seruriermarshal
04-27-2004, 06:51 AM
Spanish troops leave Iraqi city of Najaf
MADRID, April 27 (*******) - Spanish troops have left Iraq's holy Shi'ite city of Najaf, where rebel Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr is holed up with his militia, for their main base at Diwaniya, state radio reported on Tuesday.
"It was carried out today and was carried out according to plans, with all security measures and without any problems," General Jose Manuel Munoz told state radio.
The pullback appears to be a first stage in Spain's plan -- announced by new Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero earlier this month -- to withdraw Spain's 1,400 troops from Iraq.
The Defence Ministry was unable to confirm the report and the general declined to give more details on how the operation was done.
But Spain's deputy prime minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega said in a television interview the pullback seemed to be happening. "And we are reassured to see that it (the withdrawal) is progressing and our troops are fulfilling the objectives we had set out," she said.
Some 200 U.S. troops entered Najaf to protect the Spanish withdrawal and occupy their compound on Monday, a U.S. commander said.
The government has refused to give a firm date for when the Spanish troops will be back home, but a minister said most are expected to be back by the end of May.
U.S. forces backed by aircraft killed dozens of Shi'ite militiamen in fierce overnight clashes near Najaf, residents and the U.S. military said on Tuesday.
MADRID, April 27 (*******) - Spanish troops have left Iraq's holy Shi'ite city of Najaf, where rebel Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr is holed up with his militia, for their main base at Diwaniya, state radio reported on Tuesday.
"It was carried out today and was carried out according to plans, with all security measures and without any problems," General Jose Manuel Munoz told state radio.
The pullback appears to be a first stage in Spain's plan -- announced by new Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero earlier this month -- to withdraw Spain's 1,400 troops from Iraq.
The Defence Ministry was unable to confirm the report and the general declined to give more details on how the operation was done.
But Spain's deputy prime minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega said in a television interview the pullback seemed to be happening. "And we are reassured to see that it (the withdrawal) is progressing and our troops are fulfilling the objectives we had set out," she said.
Some 200 U.S. troops entered Najaf to protect the Spanish withdrawal and occupy their compound on Monday, a U.S. commander said.
The government has refused to give a firm date for when the Spanish troops will be back home, but a minister said most are expected to be back by the end of May.
U.S. forces backed by aircraft killed dozens of Shi'ite militiamen in fierce overnight clashes near Najaf, residents and the U.S. military said on Tuesday.