Diplomats' bodies flown to Japan

The killings were the first Japanese fatalities since the Iraq War started

The bodies of two Japanese diplomats killed in Iraq have been flown back to Japan.

A guard of honour greeted the arrival of the coffins at Tokyo's Narita Airport.

Relatives of the murdered men were joined by the Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi and senior officials, in mourning dress, for a silent ceremony.

Katsuhiko Oku, 45, and Masamori Inoue, 30, were shot dead along with their Iraqi driver in the town of Tikrit, north of Baghdad, on Saturday.

Their deaths were the first Japanese fatalities since the start of the US-led war in Iraq.

But despite the killings, the government appears to be pressing ahead with the deployment of a Japanese contingent in Iraq.

The Cabinet is expected to approve the dispatch next week of around 1,000 air sea and ground forces, according to Japan's Mainichi newspaper.

Tokyo wants to send an advance group to Iraq later this month, with more troops following in January, reports said.

The killing of the two diplomats has fuelled opposition to the proposed deployment.

Japan's largest opposition party, the Democratic Party, has criticised the plan because it says it will mean the Japanese military entering a war zone for the first time since World War II.

A poll published by the Mainichi newspaper on Monday showed that more than 80% of Japanese have reservations about sending troops.