The prime minister concluded that a certain level of safety could be ensured around Samawa in southern Iraq, where Japanese ground troops are to be sent, the top-selling Yomiuri Shimbun said, quoting sources close to the government.

An advance unit of Air Self-Defence Forces troops will be sent before the end of the year, followed by transport units early next year, it said.

The Mainichi Shimbun said the government is preparing to send the advance air team to Kuwait and other countries surrounding Iraq before year-end, with the main unit to start flights into Iraq in January.

The government may still dispatch ground troops before the end of the year, but a final decision has not been taken, the Yomiuri said.

The basic plan on the dispatch of troops to assist with humanitarian needs and logistic support to US and British troops is expected to be approved by the cabinet on Monday at the earliest, the paper said.

Koizumi met with Japan Defence Agency Director-General Shigeru Ishiba and Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi Wednesday afternoon to hear the agency's assessment of a report by an survey team that returned from Iraq last week.