Japan to send peacekeepers to East Timor

East Timor broke away from Indonesia after voting overwhelmingly for independence in 1999

TOKYO, Japan -- Japan is set to dispatch 690 troops to East Timor -- its largest military deployment for a U.N. peacekeeping operation.

The contingent, which will be in East Timor between March 2 and August 20, will be tasked to build infrastructures including roads and bridges, the Cabinet Office in Tokyo announced.

The Foreign Ministry added it would also be a first for Japan to dispatch female military personnel to join a U.N. peacekeeping operation. The contingent includes seven females.

The unit will be Japan's biggest deployment since it sent some 600 troops to Cambodia in 1992.

Japan has also sent troops on peacekeeping missions to such locations as the Golan Heights, Cambodia and Mozambique.

The country has intensified its role in U.N-led missions after its Parliament approved a 1992 law last year expanding the duties of its Self Defense Forces to international peacekeeping.

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Japan's antiwar constitution prevents it from sending troops into combat overseas.

Thus, it can only send troops on U.N. peacekeeping missions but only if a cease-fire is in place and if permitted by local authorities.

Japanese peacekeepers are only allowed to carry small firearms, which they can only use for self-defense.

East Timor is currently administered by the United Nations after it voted overwhelmingly for independence from Indonesia under a U.N.-sponsored referendum in 1999.

The territory's first elected assembly has scheduled May 20 as the territory's formal independence day.