TOKYO : A National First

A Japanese government mission departs for Cambodia Wednesday to begin preparations for the country’s first-ever dispatch of noncombat troops to a U.N. peacekeeping effort.

Although a law passed by Parliament in June permits Japan to dispatch a peacekeeping mission of up to 2,000 members, including both military and civilians, Yasushi Akashi, the U.N. authority’s Japanese chairman, will probably ask for fewer than half that number of military engineers, medical and transport units, civilian police and civilian election monitors.

The troop dispatch is expected to be carried out by around November.