Prague plans Iraq troop pullout
Tuesday, 9 October 2007
PRAGUE, Oct 8 (AFP): The Czech Republic is planning to pull its troops out of Iraq, Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg said Sunday, without giving a timetable for the withdrawal.
"As a matter of course, we first must reach agreement with our allies," he said on Ceska Televize public television, adding that the country wanted to continue participating in reconstruction in Iraq.
Some 100 Czech soldiers are deployed in Iraq as part of a surveillance team at an international forces base not far from the southern town of Basra.
They work primarily with the British, who announced last week that they would pull out 1,000 soldiers from Iraq by Christmas.
"As a matter of course, we first must reach agreement with our allies," he said on Ceska Televize public television, adding that the country wanted to continue participating in reconstruction in Iraq.
Some 100 Czech soldiers are deployed in Iraq as part of a surveillance team at an international forces base not far from the southern town of Basra.
They work primarily with the British, who announced last week that they would pull out 1,000 soldiers from Iraq by Christmas.