Foreign Minister announces plan to withdraw Czech troops from Iraq

Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg announced on Sunday that he was working on a plan to pull Czech forces out of Iraq. In an interview with Vaclav Moravec on Czech Television, Mr. Schwarzenberg said that the proposal would affect soldiers based in the Southern Iraqi town of Basra, but not those stationed in Baghdad. Mr. Schwarzenberg's announcement follows similar statements from the British and American governments - in recent months both have declared that they are planning to withdraw a number of their troops from Iraq. According to Mr. Schwarzenberg, no date has been fixed for the Czech troops' withdrawal just yet, as this still needs to be negotiated with allied forces. Around 100 Czech servicemen are currently posted in Iraq. Three of them are set to stay on and train Iraqi soldiers as part of the NATO mission in Baghdad.