Ukraine begins Iraq pullout

2005-03-12 16:08

Kiev, Ukraine - Ukraine withdrew 150 servicemen from Iraq on Saturday, starting a gradual pullout that officials have said will be completed by October, the Defence Ministry said.

A company that was based near As Suwayrah left Iraq and is expected to return to Ukraine by Tuesday, the ministry said.

Earlier this month, President Viktor Yushchenko and top defence officials ordered a phased withdrawal of Ukraine's 1 650-strong contingent from the US coalition in Iraq.

Ukraine has lost 17 soldiers in Iraq, and the deployment is deeply unpopular among people in the former Soviet republic.

Ukraine plans to withdraw about 590 soldiers from Iraq by May and the rest by October, the Defence Ministry said. Yushchenko said on March 1 that the pullout would be completed by October 15, but Defence Minister Anatoly Gritsenko later said Ukraine might leave some troops in Iraq two months beyond that deadline.

Ukraine strongly opposed the US-led war but later agreed to send a large contingent to serve under Polish command in central and southern Iraq.

The move was widely seen as an effort by former President Leonid Kuchma to repair relations with Washington, frayed by allegations that he had approved the sale of radar systems and other military equipment to Saddam Hussein's regime in violation of UN sanctions.

Meeting with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Borys Tarasyuk on Friday, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Friday hailed the "special relations" between the United States and Ukraine - where the Western-oriented Yushchenko took office in January - and brushed aside concerns about the planned withdrawal.

Asked about the pullout at a news conference with Tarasyuk, Rice thanked Ukraine for its contribution to the war, expressed confidence the withdrawal would not be done in a way that endangered troops and said Ukraine plans to offer technical assistance to Iraqis.

- AP