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Iraq Peacekeepers Deal With Spain Pullout; US Officials Brace For More Withdrawals
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| Contributor | Gerald Farinas |
| Last Edited | Gerald Farinas Apr 19, 2004 03:12pm |
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| Category | News |
| Media | News Service - Associated Press |
| News Date | Monday, April 19, 2004 06:00:00 AM UTC0:0 |
| Description | Iraq Peacekeepers Deal With Spain Pullout; US Officials Brace For More Withdrawals
The Honolulu Advertiser
Iraq's multinational peacekeeping force scrambled to regroup Monday after Spain's announcement that it would pull out its 1,300 troops. U.S. officials are bracing for further withdrawals.
Polish officials said they thought greater United Nations involvement might help wavering countries make new troop commitments or at least follow through with what they have already promised. "A U.N. resolution would be a great help," Polish Defense Minister Jerzy Szmajdzinski told Poland's TVN24. Poland has the most troops, 2,400, in the 23-nation force, and Szmajdzinski said it could not send any more. Szmajdzinski said Spain's decision caught him by surprise. "We are all working intensively on several variants on how to make up for the leaving troops," he told the Rzeczpospolita daily. "Perhaps we will have to reorganize the division."
Honduras announced Monday that its troops will serve under Polish command after the Spanish leave, but U.S. officials said they feared the Central American country also might withdraw from Iraq. Honduras plans to withdraw its contingent by July.
Zapatero had initially pledged to remove the troops if the United Nations did not take political and military control of the situation in Iraq by June 30. In making his announcement to remove them as soon as possible, Zapatero said there were no signs the situation would have changed enough to satisfy Spain by that deadline. His decision was a setback for the Bush administration, which has been eager to portray the effort in Iraq as an international cause. |
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