TOKYO: Japan's beleaguered Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda plans to reshuffle his cabinet on Friday, the secretary general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) said.

Fukuda expressed his intentions in a meeting with Akihiro Ota, the leader of the LDP's junior coalition partner New Komeito.

"Mr Fukuda said that he wants to reshuffle his cabinet today," Bunmei Ibuki, the LDP secretary general, told reporters afterwards.

"To this, Mr Ota replied that he understood," Ibuki said.

Ota said Fukuda, who is battling rock-bottom approval ratings, asked for assistance from New Komeito, Japan's third largest party which has ties with an influential Buddhist movement.

"He expressed his wish to reshuffle his cabinet," Ota said. "The prime minister asked us for our cooperation in the reshuffle."

The announcement of the new cabinet lineup is expected in the late evening, with Fukuda likely to hold a press conference afterwards, said the Yomiuri Shimbun and the Japan Broadcasting Corporation.

Fukuda, a 72-year-old political veteran, will appoint new leadership of the ruling party before choosing his new cabinet, the Asahi Shimbun said.

- AFP/yb