Japan to send defense forces to non-UN mission in Egypt

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ANKARA (AA) - Japan will send two members of Self-Defense Forces to a multinational non-UN peacekeeping force in Egypt in mid-April, local media reported.

According to Kyodo news agency, the Japanese government will take the approval of the Cabinet for the country’s first dispatch to an overseas mission that is not under the command of the UN.

The news agency said the Multinational Force and Observers on the Sinai Peninsula was initiated by the U.S. and is supervising the implementation of the 1979 peace treaty between Egypt and Israel following the Arab-Israeli War.

Japan’s 2016 security law allows Self-Defense Forces members to participate in overseas peacekeeping operations “even if they are not under the control of the United Nations”, it added.

“The [Japanese] government sent officials of the Defense Ministry to assess the situation on the Sinai Peninsula earlier this month and judged that the dispatch will not run counter to the five legal requirements governing participation in U.N. peacekeeping,” the news agency said.

The Japanese government briefed ruling party lawmakers on the security situation of the area on Tuesday following which a plan to dispatch the Self-Defense Forces members was approved.