Ono, director-general of the Defence Agency, is the first high-ranking Japanese official to visit the troops in Samawa.

"I wish to cheer up the members of the Self-Defence Forces who have been serving in tough conditions," Ono told reporters at Tokyo's Narita airport before his departure.

"I want to see for myself with my own eyes the security situation in Samawa," he added.

Some 600 Japanese troops have been on a non-combat humanitarian and reconstruction mission in Samawa, the nation's first military deployment since World War II to a country where there is ongoing combat.

The Iraq deployment is set to end December 14 but Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is widely expected to extend the mission despite domestic opposition.

The Japanese troops have not suffered any casualties, but five other Japanese have been killed in Iraq since the invasion -- two diplomats, two journalists and, in October, a young tourist who was abducted and beheaded.

All rights reserved. � 2005 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.