Japan orders biggest military deployment

Japanese defence chief Yoshinori Ono issued the dispatch order Friday following talks with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi who has called on the country's military, known as the Self-Defence Forces, to do their utmost to help survivors.

The troops will mainly provide medical and transport support, a defence agency spokesman said. The contingent includes some 640 marines, 220 ground forces and 100 air force personnel, according to the Mainichi Shimbun daily.

Massive tsunami waves caused by a powerful earthquake off the coast of the northern Indonesian island of Sumatra on December 26 killed almost 160,000 people in 11 countries.