US President George W. Bush is set to begin an Asian tour buoyed by a diplomatic resolution on Iraq at the United Nations.
Mr Bush is expected to focus on security issues, steps to counter terrorism, and trade during the trip, which will take him to Japan, the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia and Australia before he returns home on October 24th.
In Japan, the issues of troops and money for Iraq, a crisis over North Korea's nuclear arms programme and Tokyo's efforts to stem the yen's surge against the dollar are likely to feature when Mr Bush and Japanese Prime Minister Mr Junichiro Koizumi, one of his closest allies in the region, meet.
With Mr Bush under pressure at home over the growing cost of the Iraqi operations in terms of US lives and money, the the UN resolution adopted yesterday asks nations the aid the reconstruction.
It also sets up a multinational force, under US leadership, to give political cover to nations reluctant to serve under the occupying United States and calls on Iraqi leaders to draw up a plan for a new constitution and elections by December 15th.
Japan welcomed the resolution today, with officials saying it would help clear the way for Tokyo to send troops to Iraq.