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Whilst many countries are in the process of withdrawing their troops from Iraq, Denmark is considering a marked increase in its Iraqi engagement, as the Iraqi government takes over the control in the country june 30th. The Army's Operational Command, HOK, is currently negotiating with British coalition forces in Southern Iraq over a massive increase of the Danish area of responsibility from the current area north of Basra to including the entire area down to the Kuwaiti border, except for Basra proper which will remain under British command. The the main Danish base, Camp Eden, would be moved to the...

Polish Troops Will Stay in Iraq Despite Spanish Withdrawal, Official Says The Associated Press WARSAW, Poland (AP) - Poland is not considering a troop pullout from Iraq, despite the outgoing prime minister's comments on the subject, the government spokesman said on Wednesday. "Poland will be in Iraq as long as it necessary, until the situation there is stabilized," spokesman Marcin Kaszuba told The Associated Press. "Poland has not and is not considering a troop withdrawal." Earlier, the Polish news agency PAP quoted Prime Minister Leszek Miller, who leaves office early next month, as saying Poland "cannot turn a blind eye"...

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic — The Dominican Republic will pull its 302 troops out of Iraq early, and Thailand will withdraw its 451 medical and engineering troops if they are attacked, officials said... ...Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's government is facing increasing calls to withdraw the country's troops, who were sent last year to do humanitarian work in Karbala, about 60 miles south of Baghdad. "If we get hurt or killed, I will not keep them there," Thaksin told reporters...

Poland is planning to withdraw its troops from Iraq in the coming months, dealing another blow to the US-led coalition forces there. The revelation yesterday by a senior government adviser that Poland's 2,500 soldiers would leave Iraq comes just a day after the new Spanish Prime Minister, Mr José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, announced the pull-out of Spanish troops "as soon as possible". President Bush reacted to the Spanish decision by accusing Mr Zapatero yesterday of giving "false comfort to terrorists \ enemies of freedom in Iraq". The White House spokesman, Mr Scott McClellan, said that in a five-minute telephone call...

Citizens from more than 80 countries died that day – innocent men, women and children from across the globe. Within hours of the tragedy, coalitions involving many nations assembled to fight terrorism – literally hundreds of countries have contributed in a variety of ways – some militarily, others diplomatically, economically and financially. Some nations have helped openly; others prefer not to disclose their contributions. The United States began building the coalition on September 12, 2001, and there are currently 70 nations supporting the global war on terrorism. To date, 21 nations have deployed more than 16,000 troops to the U.S....

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) The Dominican Republic might follow Spain and Honduras in pulling its troops out of Iraq early despite a one-year commitment to the U.S.-led military force, the president said Tuesday.

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea remains committed to deploying troops to Iraq despite the surge in violence there, but their task will remain purely reconstruction, the country's foreign minister said on Monday. Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon told reporters the government remained firmly committed to plans approved by parliament in February to send 3,000 troops in addition to the 600 that went to Iraq nearly a year ago. "This is not an issue of sending the troops because things are stable and not sending them because things are not," he told a news conference. South Korea holds a parliamentary election on...

DIWANIYAH, Iraq (AFP) - Spanish soldiers have begun preparing the handover of their positions in Iraq (news - web sites) to new coalition troops, commanders said insisting the departing troops had carried out their mission with honour, unbowed by recent attacks. AFP Photo Latest headlines: · U.S. Says June 30 Not 'A Magical Date' for Iraq Reuters - 6 minutes ago · U.S. Says Troops Killed 2 Iraq Reporters AP - 13 minutes ago · Iraq Leaders Create Tribunal for Saddam AP - 15 minutes ago Special Coverage The official line from officers at the Spanish base in Diwaniyah was...

MALAYSIA said today it would consider sending troops to Iraq for a US-proposed force meant to protect UN staff and facilities, but it wants the Washington-appointed administration to hand over political power to Iraqis first. "We have to study the situation very carefully," said Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak, who is also defence minister. "Our position is that the administration of Iraq should be entrusted to the United Nations, and ultimately, to the people of Iraq. It is within this ambit that we will decide on anything." Malaysia, which is mostly Muslim, has in the past contributed peacekeepers to...

In his statement to the House of Commons yesterday, Tony Blair praised the work of the coalition in Iraq, insisted that the June 30 deadline for the transfer of power would hold and emphasised the unanimity of opinion between himself and President Bush. He was also wise to prepare public opinion for more difficulties before the move to a democratic Iraq begins in earnest. It has been a matter of fortune, as well as of sound planning, that Britain has not suffered a sharp rise in military casualties in the past month, nor a hostage incident as serious as that...

Secretary of State Colin Powell said Monday that one or more countries may follow Spain's lead and withdraw peacekeeping troops from Iraq "based on their own political situation." Hours later, Honduras said it was pulling out its 370 soldiers. ... Powell dismissed Woodward's suggestion that Bush already had made up his mind by Jan. 11 last year to go to war against Iraq and that Saudi Arabia's ambassador to Washington, Prince Bandar, had been informed of the decision that day.

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (Reuters) - In a blow to President Bush and his coalition partners in Iraq, Honduras on Monday followed Spain in announcing it will pull its troops out of the country. "I have told the coalition countries that the troops are going to return from Iraq," Maduro said in a speech on national television and radio. "I have ordered... the carrying out of the decision taken in the shortest possible time and under safe conditions for our troops." Soldiers from Honduras, a strong U.S. ally in Central America, were sent to Iraq last summer as peacekeepers only and have...

ROME - European Commission (news - web sites) president Romano Prodi Monday praised Spain's decision to pull its troops from Iraq (news - web sites), saying the move could help mend the rift in Europe over the war as well as increase pressure to resolve the Iraqi crisis. Prodi, a former Italian premier widely considered the chief challenger to pro-U.S. Italian leader Silvio Berlusconi, rallied to Spain's defense during a gathering of the Olive Tree, the center-left political coalition he helped found as Italy's main opposition group. "Spain with this decision has come back to our line, while before it...

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush scolded Spain's new prime minister for his swift withdrawal of troops from Iraq and told him to avoid actions that give "false comfort to terrorists or enemies of freedom in Iraq." Bush expressed his views in a five-minute telephone call with Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, who on Sunday ordered the 1,300 troops to return home as soon as possible. Zapatero placed the call to Bush and the president "expressed his regret to President Zapatero about the decision to abruptly announce the pullout of Spanish troops from Iraq," White House press secretary Scott McClellan...

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Spanish troops will withdraw from Iraq in four to five weeks, a spokesman for the Polish contingent that commands a multinational peacekeeping force in Iraq said Monday. Polish Gen. Mieczyslaw Bieniek told reporters at the force's Camp Babylon headquarters that troops currently under Spanish command from El Salvador, Honduras and the Dominican Republic would stay put, Poland's PAP news agency reported. But he said it was unclear who would replace the 1,300 Spanish troops. Later Monday Spanish Defense Minister Jose Bono said Spain's force would leave in fewer than six weeks. "It would be imprudent to...

MADRID, April 19 (Reuters) - The process of withdrawing Spanish troops from Iraq has begun and will be completed quickly, Spain's new government said on Monday. "We have an operational plan," Defence Minister Jose Bono told a news conference after the new government's first cabinet meeting. "The process has started and will be completed rapidly." He did not make clear if he meant Spanish troops were already starting to leave Iraq or simply that new Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero had started the process by giving the order to pull out the troops as soon as possible.

Albania, a predominantly Muslim country, told the United States it was prepared to send more non-combat troops to Iraq (news - web sites), the government said Monday, in a possible expansion of the 71-member-strong contingent patrolling the northern city of Mosul under U.S. command. Despite the small number of Albanian forces, the public commitment from Tirana was bound to be welcome news to the United States after Spain's weekend announcement that it was withdrawing its 1,300-member contingent as soon as possible. Albanian Foreign Minister Kastriot Islami made the offer Friday in a letter to Secretary of State Colin Powell (news...

El Salvador, Honduras and the Dominican Republic are likely to follow Spain in recalling their troops from Iraq, the Spanish daily El Pais said on Monday. The 900 Central American troops from part of the Spanish-speaking Plus Ultra Brigade.They will find it difficult to operate in Iraq without Spain's support, according to the daily.Nicaragua has already pulled out by not replacing its 115 troops for lack of funds.Spain became the first major US ally to recall its troops when Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero announced their withdrawal on Sunday.The Socialist prime minister ordered the withdrawal of the 1,400 Spanish...

WASHINGTON - President Bush (news - web sites) scolded Spain's new prime minister for his swift withdrawal of troops from Iraq (news - web sites) and told him to avoid actions that give "false comfort to terrorists or enemies of freedom in Iraq." Bush expressed his views in a five-minute telephone call with Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, who on Sunday ordered the 1,300 troops to return home as soon as possible. Zapatero placed the call to Bush and the president "expressed his regret to President Zapatero about the decision to abruptly announce the pullout of Spanish troops from...

MADRID, Spain — Spain's prime minister on Sunday ordered Spanish troops pulled out of Iraq as soon as possible, fulfilling a campaign pledge to a nation recovering from terrorist bombings that Al Qaeda (search) militants said were reprisal for Spain's support of the war. Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero (search) issued the abrupt recall just hours after his government was sworn in, saying there was no sign the United States would meet his demand for United Nations control of the postwar occupation -- his ultimatum for keeping troops there. Zapatero's Socialist (search) party won the March 14 general election amid allegations...