Japanese media said Friday the government plans to start pulling out ground troops from Iraq in March, after Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said that he will carefully decide the timing on Thursday.

Japan may withdraw its Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF) from Samawah, southern Iraq even before a new Iraqi government is set up, newspaper Asahi Shimbun said, as the British troops in charge of security of the region plan to leave in March.

Japan wants to pull out its GSDF members around the same time, the paper said, quoting unnamed sources.

Daily Yomiuri Shimbun also reported a similar plan. After ending humanitarian reconstruction mission in late march, the troops would move to Kuwait in May and all return to Japan by July, the report said, citing a government withdrawal plan.

On Thursday, the premier said, "The Self-Defense Forces (SDF) are not supposed to permanently operate in Iraq, so we have to figure out the withdrawal timing carefully."

The Yomiuri also said the Air Self-Defense Force will maintain and expand its logistic support for the multinational forces in Iraq, in accord with earlier media reports.

Japan, Australia, Britain and the United States will hold a working-level meeting in London at the end of next week to discuss the details of withdrawal plans, the paper said.

Japan has stationed some 600 ground troops in Samawah, southern Iraq for a non-combat reconstruction mission since early 2004.

(Xinhua News Agency February 17, 2006)