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Dr. Stiby
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Currently studying in Cape Town
Mar 2002
time: 05:35
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And the Honduras troops are leaving as well:
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle....63&pageNumber=1
quote:
Honduras to Pull Its Troops Out of Iraq
Mon Apr 19, 2004 11:27 PM ET
By Gustavo Palencia
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (Reuters) - In a blow to President Bush and his coalition partners in Iraq, Honduras followed Spain on Monday in announcing it will pull its troops out of the country.
President Ricardo Maduro, a close ally of the United States, said he had already told coalition countries that Honduras' 370 soldiers in Iraq would soon quit the country.
He said in a television and radio address the withdrawal would be carried out "in the shortest possible time and under safe conditions for our troops."
Honduras said earlier Monday it was considering the withdrawal due to spiraling violence and pressure created by Spain's decision to pull its forces out.
Spain is commanding troops in Iraq from other Spanish-speaking nations in the coalition -- Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic.
Honduran soldiers were sent to Iraq last summer as peacekeepers only, and have been clearing mines and providing medical care in central Iraq.
They had previously been set to leave when their mandate expires in July.
Many Hondurans have questioned why their troops should remain in Iraq now that Spain was withdrawing and congressional leaders had voiced concern for the troops' safety.
El Salvador said it will keep its 300 soldiers in Iraq until the start of August, the end of its scheduled stay.
"We are going to fulfill the pledge we have made," presidential spokesman Carlos Flores told Reuters. He did not say what would happen beyond early August. El Salvador's conservative president-elect Tony Saca takes office on June 1.
In Washington, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said on Monday each country in the U.S.-led coalition would make "individual decisions" whether to stay in Iraq as conditions there change.
Boucher said he believed there was no change in the status of troops from Nicaragua, another U.S. ally in Central America which has sent troops to Iraq.
Nicaraguan troops came home earlier this year as part of a normal rotation but a new contingent has not been sent to Iraq because the government says it is short of cash.
Once the scene of bitter conflicts in the Cold War, Central American countries have been eager to build on close trade and immigration ties with the United States by cooperating in the occupation of Iraq.
Honduras, a small banana-exporting country, allowed pro-U.S. Nicaraguan "Contra" rebels to operate from its soil in the 1980s.
Maduro's government sponsored a resolution at a U.N. human rights body last week that condemned Communist-run Cuba's rights record. |
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20-04-2004 14:22
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