Baker made the request on Monday during his talks with the secretaries general of Japan's three ruling parties, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported.

Taku Yamasaki, secretary general of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, said during the talks that Japan will have to formulate a new law to send the SDF to postwar Iraq and that the legislation would require a new UN Security Council resolution, the report said.

Baker suggested that Japan should draft a Security Council resolution on setting up forces and organizations to govern a postwar Iraq, the report said.

Baker also urged Japan to make efforts to help improve the strained relations between the United States and many Arab countries which have deteriorated since the war began last week, the Asahi Shimbun reported.

The Japanese government has been studying the possibility of SDF personnel taking part in logistical support operations for militaries tasked with maintaining public order, Kyodo News reported, quoting government sources.

Japan needs to enact a new law to enable the dispatch because it is impossible under the 1992 law governing the SDF participation in UN peacekeeping operations, which places conditions on any dispatch, including requiring a cease-fire and consent for the dispatch from the countries involved.

(Xinhua News Agency March 26, 2003)