STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) - The first Japanese troops to be dispatched outside their

country since World War II arrived in July to attend the Swedish U.N. School, the

Japanese embassy said.

In June, Japan's parliament passed a law to allow the country's soldiers to participate

in U.N. peacekeeping efforts, and the first are expected to go to Cambodia. The Japanese

constitution adopted after World War II had forbidden the nation's soldiers from

operating outside its territory.

The Japanese Embassy said 35 soldiers would undergo two weeks of training at the

Swedish Defense Department's peacekeeping school in Sodertalje, south of Stockholm.

Sweden is one of the country's with the most experience in U.N. peacekeeping operations.

It uses the school to retrain Swedish volunteers for each new posting, and it also

accepts foreign troops for short courses on the country they are going to, crowd

control, and self-defense.