- MADRID -- The last group
of Spanish soldiers returned home from Iraq yesterday, ending Spain's participation
in the military occupation of Iraq.
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- Wives, children and fellow officers were visibly relieved
as they hugged the camouflage-clad soldiers arriving from Kuwait at the
military base in Badajoz. The soldiers, more than 240 of them, had been
involved in reconstruction and peace-keeping projects since the 1,300-strong
Spanish contingent of the Plus Ultra Brigade set up camp in the southern
Iraqi cities of Diwaniyah and Najaf last August, alongside troops from
Honduras, El Salvador, the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua.
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- Recently, the soldiers had been coming under increasing
attacks by resistance fighters.
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- "They're very relieved to be back. Right now I should
think they are out celebrating with their families," said Jose Luis
Gutierrez, a spokesman at the Spanish Defence Ministry.
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- Although 700 Spanish troops remain in Iraq, they are
working on logistics related to the withdrawal not attempting to maintain
the peace. Spain's governing Socialist Party, which won a general election
last month, had promised to bring the troops home unless the United Nations
assumed a strong role in Iraq by 30 June.
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- But Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, the Prime Minister,
told parliamentarians during a debate on Tuesday that Spain's presence
in Iraq would end on 27 May. He said his decision was based on a belief
that the UN could not agree a new mandate by that deadline, and on his
preoccupation with the safety of his Spanish troops. Others pointed to
the fact that Mr Zapatero's set date coincides with the start of campaigning
for the European parliamentary elections.
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- © 2004 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/story.jsp?story=516304
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