A weekend poll found that more than 80 per cent of Japanese are opposed or cautious about the government's plan to send the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) to Iraq, said the leading Mainichi Shimbun Monday.

The poll also found that the approval rating for Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's Cabinet dropped 14 per centage points to 42 per cent, while the disapproval rating reached to 37 per cent, up 11 points from last survey in October.

Responding to the telephone poll, 43 per cent people said the SDF should not go to Iraq at all, and 40 per cent would rather not to see the dispatch until the security situation turns better. Nine percent want the SDF to set off as soon as possible.

The survey was conducted on Saturday and Sunday as the killing of two Japanese diplomats in Iraq was reported on Sunday morning.

Two Japanese diplomats were ambushed and shot dead when driving near the northern city of Tikrit. They were the first Japanese killed since the Iraqi war started in March.

Terror groups have reportedly warned of attacks on Japanese targets if Japan sends the SDF to Iraq.

Koizumi and other senior Japanese officials expressed Sunday their resolve not to submit to terror attacks and to continue plan about Iraqi reconstruction.

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