Czech military police troops are likely to be withdrawn from Iraq at the beginning of next year, the Czech defence minister said on Monday, putting further pressure on Britain and America to find new volunteers for a multinational force.
Spanish troops have already been pulled out of the
country by the new anti-war government in Madrid, and other governments are taking a new look at their commitments in the light of the security situation in Iraq.
The Czech Republic has had 80 military police stationed near Basra. Defence Minister Miroslav Kostela told the state-run news agency CTK that the Czech Republic instead should focus mainly on its missions in Afghanistan and the Balkans.
Britain and America, the occupying powers in Iraq, are hoping that more countries will agree to share the burden in Iraq once a UN resolution is adopted, endorsing the transfer of power to a sovereign interim government which takes over at the end of June.
- INDEPENDENT
