This year's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit on Saturday and Sunday is US President George W. Bush's first trip abroad since his re-election and he is expected to push to renew his war on terror and seek support for US policy in Iraq.

But Bush is likely to get only partial backing. Since last year's APEC summit in Thailand, the US-led coalition has failed to find the weapons of mass destruction it cited to justify the war and Iraq has been beset by bloodshed and kidnappings.

"No one opposes a fight against terrorism, but once talks turn to the Iraq war, voices remain divided sharply," said Kazuro Umezu, former professor of international politics and Asian studies at Nagoya-Gakuin University in Japan.

"Opposition to the US-led war obviously became bigger in a lot of APEC members than last year," he said. "What Bush can do most this time is to secure the present supporters."

One of Bush's strongest supporters is Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who may use his meeting with Bush on the sidelines of the summit to announce that Tokyo will extend its deployment in Iraq by a year, sources said.

Some 550 troops are in non-combat operations in the southern city of Samawa in Japan's first military deployment since World War II to a country of active combat.

The domestically unpopular mission expires on December 14 unless the government extends it, as Koizumi has signalled he plans to do.

South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun, another Asian friend of the Bush administration on Iraq policy, reportedly plans to seek approval from parliament to extend a troop deployment by a year.

South Korea's dispatch of 3,600 troops expires at the end of 2004. The mission, meant for relief and rehabilitation, has been under a tough media blackout since June when Islamic militants killed a South Korean translator.

Other allies of the US president include Prime Minister John Howard of Australia, which keeps some 300 troops in Iraq mostly in comparatively "safe" roles.

But a majority of Asian nations of the 21-member forum have been critical of the Iraq war.

Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, has opposed the ongoing US-led military offensive in the rebel stronghold of Fallujah, saying the assault will deepen rifts in Iraq ahead of elections.

Thailand, another nation with sensitivities about its Muslim population, completed a withdrawal of troops from Iraq in September following homegrown opposition after the deaths of the Thai soldiers.

Human rights groups said the Thai deployment had triggered resentment among Muslims in Thailand's south which has been wracked by violence this year.

Malaysia has been sharply critical of the Iraq war. Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who heads the Organisation of Islamic Conference forum, has called on the United Nations to play a top role in Iraq's reconstruction.

Despite its close ties with the United States, the Philippines decided in July to withdraw forces from Iraq to save the life of a Filipino truck driver kidnapped by militants.

Philippine President Gloria Arroyo made the decision amid domestic opposition to the war, even though a number of Filipinos remain lured to Iraq by high-paying jobs.

APEC's most populous member China has opposed the US-led war on Iraq although it showed support for the Iraqi interim government and the country's political process.

Other APEC nations opposing the US intervention in Iraq include Vietnam -- and summit host Chile.

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