The government of Ukraine, acting a day after an explosion killed eight of its soldiers in Iraq, announced Monday that it would withdraw its 1,650-member force by the middle of 2005.
Ukraine has been moving for months toward pulling out its forces, but officials have remained vague about dates; Monday's statement, which followed a meeting between President Leonid Kuchma and his defense and foreign ministers, gives new firmness to those intentions.
The blast occurred as the troops were loading an explosive onto a truck in Suwayrah, 20 miles southeast of Baghdad. One Kazakh was also killed. The Islamic Army in Iraq, an insurgent group, asserted responsibility for the blast, which was first reported as an accident but is now being investigated as an attack.
Ukraine's contingent is the fourth-largest in the U.S.-led military coalition and operates under Polish command in southern Iraq. Nine Ukrainian soldiers were killed in previous incidents.
An announcement posted on Kuchma's Web site said his expected successor, Viktor Yushchenko, would address the issue of troop withdrawal after taking office. Yushchenko moved closer to inauguration when Ukraine's election commission late Monday declared him the winner of a Dec. 26 vote. |