The Japanese government is reportedly paying approximately 10 billion yen (€ 75 million or US$ 94 million) to Iraqi tribal leaders to provide bodyguards for the Self Defense Forces (SDF) in Iraq.
A spokesman for the Prime Minister's Office said: "It is rather cheap if we can buy security for our soldiers with that amount of money. In Iraq, oil money is distributed to those tribes. It is more important for the Japanese government to make one-time payments to the leaders than to pay them a salary. That will help their local economy and benefit Japan's foreign policy toward new Iraq."
Escorted by Dutch marines, stationed in the area since August, the first contingent of Japanese troops arrived in the town of As Samawah in southern Iraq last Tuesday. The main force is scheduled to be sent at the end of January or early February.
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's main concern has been to protect the lives of the SDF soldiers. Last December, Abdul Amir Rikabi, a Paris-based Iraqi writer/activist and reported to have ties with a local tribe [1], visited Japan and, according to a source in the Prime Minister's Office, Mr Koizumi made a confidential agreement with him: Japan would pay a huge amount of money in exchange for protection.
"Mr Rikabi told us that he would organize 200 to 300 guards to protect Japan's SDF soldiers until the main unit arrives in Samawah. The SDF will construct their camps within double barbed wire entanglements in the suburbs of Samawah and engage in supplying water to the city. The Iraqi guards will provide 24-hour patrols and in the event of a terrorist attack, Dutch troops will help out," said the source.
One source in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), speaking on condition of anonymity, said, "The leaders of tribes in Samawah are requesting salaries for their soldiers. If they are killed on duty, they will demand compensation for their deaths. The Japanese government has to donate $1 million in advance for such compensation.
"However, the Defense Agency does not have such a budget. The government will have to use discretionary funds allocated for the Prime Minister's Office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The advance Self Defense Forces have been given such discretionary funds by the Prime Minister's Office."
[1] Editor's Note (RISQ): Before the war, Abdul Amir al-Rikabi was associated with the Iraqi National Alliance, a reformist opposition group, involved in negotiations with Saddam's regime. In October 2002, Mr al-Rikabi told a Jordanian newspaper that Iraqi officials had asked him "to head a national coalition government". More recently, Mr al-Rikabi has called for "an independent Iraqi constitutive conference abroad", as he considers the American plan for the transfer of power "a dubious scheme" and a "political debacle" (Al-Ahram Weekly, 26 December 2003).
Sources: Shukan Post (The Weekly), Japan Today, Dutch Ministry of Defense, Al-Ahram Weekly
Update, 01 02 2004 (RISQ). Amir al-Rikabi was one of the speakers at the opening ceremony of the World Social Forum held in Mumbai (Bombay), India, from 16 to 22 January this year. As People's Democracy - the Weekly Organ of the Communist Party of India (Vol. XXVII, no 4.) - reports: "[Amir al-Rikabi], while detailing the situation in Iraq, said that time was running out and the people of Iraq needed to be shown that the entire world is with them in their resistance. He said if the US wins in Iraq, it would replicate the same in other parts of the world. He welcomed the decision taken in a Jakarta conference to hold a meeting in Baghdad in near future with the theme “No To Occupation - Yes To Iraqi People”. He ended his speech with the call “Let's go to Basra, Nassiriya, Fallujah and through to Baghdad""
Update 03 02 2004. Iraqi expat denies role in Japan's reported 'protection money' scheme.
Japanese Source
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