Nearly half of Japanese believe that Japan should withdraw its troops from Iraq in the first half of 2006, according to a newspaper poll released Wednesday.

The poll, conducted by the Nihon Keizai newspaper from Friday to Monday, said 46 percent of respondents feel that Japanese troops should be pulled out along with British troops in the first six months of 2006, while 28 percent others think they should be brought home immediately.

Only 11 percent said the troops should remain in Iraq until U.S. troops withdraw, according to the newspaper.

It did not provide a smaple size or margin error.

Japan has stationed some 600 troops in southern Iraq for a non-combat reconstruction mission in support of U.S.-led coalition forces since early 2004.

The Japanese government decided on Dec. 8 to extend the troop deployment for one year. Under the plan, the troops could pull out depending on a series of conditions, including Iraq's political and reconstruction process and the local security situation.

Source: Xinhua