is a public relations problem Tokyo, Jan 7, SPA -- The deeply unpopular dispatch of Japanesetroops to Iraq is a public relations problem caused by ungrounded fears about the region's stability, Japan's defense chief said Friday, vowing to turn around public opinion. Japan's pro-U.S. government extended a one-yearhumanitarian mission in the southern Iraqi city of Samawahlast month, approving a plan to keep the 550 troops thereto purify water and rebuild infrastructure for another 12months. "The extension is very, very unpopular," Defense Agencychief Yoshinori Ono acknowledged at a news conference atTokyo's Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan on Friday. "Through the eyes of the Japanese people, the situationin Samawah is very bad, dangerous," he said. "It is apublic relations problem." His comments came as a new batch of soldiers prepared toleave for Iraq Saturday for a six-month mission to relievecolleagues currently in Iraq and Kuwait. Japan has a totalof 1,000 troops in the region helping reconstructionefforts.--SPA1446 Local Time 1146 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/230662