Tokyo - Japan is to withdraw its Air Self-Defence Forces from Iraq by the end of the year, the Defence Ministry said Thursday.

The nation's air force has been assisting the US-led coalition in airlifting materials and troops between Kuwait and Iraq since 2006.

The scheduled pullout of the remaining personnel would complete the withdrawal of Japan's Self-Defence Forces from Iraq. It sent in ground troops in 2004 in its first military deployment in another country since World War II. The soldiers, who helped with Iraq's reconstruction, were withdrawn in 2006.

Tokyo's decision was expected to irritate the United States, Japan's most important ally, which urged Japan to continue its mission.

Tokyo - Tokyo stocks continued their losing streak Thursday on lingering US credit woes.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average declined 149.74 points, or 1.21 per cent, in morning trading to 12,196.89.

The broader Topix index of all first-section issues was also down 18.13 points, or 1.5 per cent, at 1,174.25.

Shares were hit after Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc, the fourth-largest US investment bank, which has been hard-hit by the US financial and mortgage crisis, reported a record loss Wednesday of 3.9 billion dollars.

Tokyo - Japan's current account surplus shrank 17.3 per cent to 1.53 trillion yen (14.22 billion dollars) in July, compared with the same month a year before, thanks to expanding imports, the government said Wednesday.

The surplus shrank for the fifth-consecutive month as import growth was led by high prices for fuel, the Finance Ministry said.

The goods and services trade surplus plunged 93.5 per cent to 29.2 billion yen.

The goods trade surplus shrank 69.8 per cent to 232.2 billion yen while the services trade marked a deficit of 203 billion yen, down 35.8 per cent from a year before.

Tokyo - Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average hit a six-month low Wednesday after renewed anxiety over the US financial sector dragged down US shares.

The Nikkei fell in morning trading by 131.11 points, or 1.06 per cent, to 12,269.54. The index ended the previous day's session down 223.81 points.

The broader Topix index of all first-section issues was also down 7.41 points, or 0.62 per cent, at 1,184.18 after it finished the previous day's trading down 24.82 points.

Tokyo - Candidates for Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) presidential race were ready to take their campaign to the streets Wednesday in a bid to succeed outgoing leader and Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda.

LDP Secretary General Taro Aso, 67, was seen as the front runner among the five candidates. Aso served as Fukuda's right-hand man for about a month since the premier reshuffled his cabinet.