When the Diet reconvenes Tuesday for an extraordinary session, the opposition is set to pounce on the Liberal Democratic Party over a scandal involving a party faction that allegedly took 100 million yen in unreported political contributions from a national dental association, observers say.

The opposition is also eager to rake Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi over the coals for supporting U.S. President George W. Bush's invasion of Iraq, now that a final report from a U.S. investigation has concluded Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction.

The fund scandal involves the faction previously led by former Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto. He is alleged to have accepted a check for 100 million yen in July 2001 from the Japan Dentists Federation, the lobbying arm of the Japan Dental Association.

The donation was not included in a mandatory annual report to the government listing all political donations. The treasurer of the faction was indicted in the case.

Kanezo Muraoka, the former chief Cabinet secretary, who was in a position to oversee the faction's treasury, has denied the charge. He too was indicted last month, without being taken into custody, for violating the Political Fund Control Law.

But Hashimoto and LDP heavyweights Hiromu Nonaka and Mikio Aoki, also said to have been present when the check changed hands, escaped prosecution.

On Sunday, Katsuya Okada, leader of the opposition Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan), told a TV Asahi program: ``The first thing (in this session) will be to have former Chief Cabinet Secretary Muraoka, and the three (Hashimoto, Aoki and Nonaka) come and explain what took place.''

Shinzo Abe, LDP acting secretary-general, on the same TV program, rejected Okada's demands, saying that ``Minshuto filed a complaint (in July with the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office against Hashimoto) but the prosecutors decided not to make a case. It's wrong to also bring it up in the Diet.''

Minshuto leaders in charge of Diet affairs expect raising the issue in the extraordinary session will ``bring into sharp focus the corrupt nature of the LDP.''

Meanwhile, Koizumi said Thursday in Hanoi, where he attended the Asia-Europe Meeting on trade issues, ``As a politician, he (Hashimoto) needs to properly explain (his position and involvement).''

Koizumi's words are taken to mean that he plans to allow Hashimoto to be questioned in the Diet to bring a closure to the LDP money scandal.

Muraoka also told The Asahi Shimbun that he would appear before the Diet to answer questions either as a sworn or unsworn witness, stressing that he had been falsely accused.

The Iraq war will again be a bone of contention in upcoming weeks.

The opposition is set to blame Koizumi for supporting Bush's war in Iraq after hearing of last week's report to the U.S. Congress by Charles Duelfer, head of the Iraq Survey Group, that the group had found no evidence that Iraq had harbored WMD.

``The prime minister gave only perfunctory answers without any information gathering or analysis by Japan. He is gravely responsible for supporting the war since then based on wrong perceptions,'' said Minshuto Secretary-General Tatsuo Kawabata last week.

Koizumi has said, however, that Japan's position remains unchanged because its support is based on U.N. Security Council resolutions.(IHT/Asahi: October 11,2004) (10/11)