TOKYO, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) — The following are the major news items in leading Japanese newspapers on Tuesday:

The Daily Yomiuri:

– Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said Monday the government plans to scrap the provisional gasoline tax rate at the end of March and introduce new measures to keep taxation on the fuel at the same level.

The Asahi Shimbun:

– A mission of about 100 Japanese business leaders and government officials flew into Baghdad on Sunday for the first Japan-Iraq economic forum in the Iraqi capital since the U.S.-led war in 2003.

The Japan Times:

– Six former heads of Japan Airlines Corp. and its subsidiaries have agreed to return part of their retirement benefits as the carrier undergoes government-supervised turnaround efforts, JAL President Haruka Nishimatsu said Monday.