It is being closely watched whether the report will come out before a cabinet reshuffle likely to be conducted on Aug. 3, in which Defense Minister Tomomi Inada is widely expected to be replaced. In March, Inada ordered the special inspection by the Defense Ministry Inspector General's Office of Legal Compliance.

Following a request for the disclosure of the daily logs to review GSDF peacekeepers' activities in the strife-torn African nation, the GSDF said last December that they had been discarded. But it was revealed later that electronic data on the logs were stored in the GSDF.

There is suspicion that an order may have been issued for the deletion of the data.

With the help of prosecutors, the special inspection office, under the direct control of the defense minister, has interviewed more than 100 personnel in an attempt to uncover who decided to keep the data undisclosed.

Some past special inspection took more than a year to compete. But the ministry is planning to publish the results of the ongoing inspection before the cabinet reshuffle, with a source close to the ministry saying a report should be published while Inada is in office.

At a news conference on Friday, Inada said she has instructed her ministry to announce the inspection results soon. But she also said it is important that all facts are clarified thoroughly.

One focus is disciplinary measures to be taken against those responsible for the scandal.

Senior GSDF officers are said to have denied organizational efforts to keep the data from being disclosed. A GSDF source said one officer is likely to have acted without authorization by surmising the intent of the top echelon.

Still, a senior Defense Ministry official said Gen. Toshiya Okabe, chief of staff of the GSDF, cannot escape responsibility.

The defense minister is not covered by the special inspection and the scrutiny will continue even if Inada is replaced in the coming cabinet shake-up.

But Inada is expected to be accused again of lacking leadership if the results of an inspection she ordered are not published after four months, analysts said. (Jiji Press)