Japanese officials welcomed today a decision to lift economic sanctions on Iraq approved by the UN Security Council.

"This is a step taken by the international community towards rebuilding Iraq.

We welcome this," said Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda.

"We hope a new administration (run) by the Iraqi people, receiving wide support from the international community and the Iraqi public, will be established as soon as possible," Fukuda said.

Fukuda suggested that the government was still studying whether to introduce a new bill that would allow the dispatch of troops from the Japanese Self-Defense Forces (SDF) to help with Iraqi reconstruction.

"For now, we will have to work with the existing laws," he said.

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi told reporters accompanying him on his flight to Texas to meet with US President George W Bush, that he would give "full consideration to whether a new law is needed if the current laws are not adequate," according to Jiji Press agency.

Koizumi's key supporter and secretary general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Taku Yamasaki said the three ruling coalition parties would submit a bill to allow the dispatch of SDF troops during the current parliamentary session, which is expected to be extended beyond late June.

"Yesterday's UN Security Council vote to lift sanctions against Iraq is an important element in the government's move toward enacting a new law," Yamasaki added.

Yamasaki declined to comment on the precise role of the defense agency in Iraq.

Earlier news reports have said the government wanted to introduce a bill under which Japanese troops would be allowed to participate in the disposal of weapons of mass destruction, transport of food and medicine, medical treatment and restoration of damaged buildings. – Sapa-AFP.