Some 33.7 percent of the voters polled said they were opposed to Japanese troops being sent to the strife-ridden country, while 56.3 percent said the government should send troops to Iraq but it should be careful about the timing, the Kyodo News said.

In the survey, 7.5 percent of respondents said they want to see troops dispatched to Iraq as soon as possible to help with reconstruction work, Kyodo said.

The survey was conducted Wednesday and Thursday following the killing last weekend of two Japanese diplomats in Iraq.

The telephone survey covered 1,477 randomly selected eligible voters, of whom 1,037 responded, Kyodo said.

The two diplomats, Katsuhiko Oku and Masamori Inoue, were gunned down last Saturday near the northern Iraqi city of Tikrit. Their Iraqi driver was also killed in the attack.

According to the Kyodo survey, an overwhelming 89.2 percent of respondents said Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi had failed to sufficiently explain Japan's troop dispatch plan to support the reconstruction of Iraq.

Only 6.4 percent said the premier had given the public sufficient explanation, the survey said.

Some 58 percent said Japan should reconsider the degree of its involvement in supporting reconstruction of Iraq, with 24 percent saying Japan should do its utmost to support Iraq's reconstruction.

Another 12.5 percent said Japan should withdraw from the reconstruction work, according to the survey.

The Koizumi cabinet is expected to decide on a basic dispatch plan for dispatching troops on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the support rate for the Koizumi cabinet dropped to 43.8 percent, falling 7.8 points from the previous survey taken in November, Kyodo said.

The disapproval rating was 44.4 percent, up 7.3 points, it said.

It is the first time in nine months that the disapproval rate for the cabinet has exceeded the approval rate, it said.

WAR.WIRE