Azerbaijan to withdraw troops from Iraq

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Azerbaijan’s parliament has voted to pull the ex-Soviet republic’s small peacekeeping force out of Iraq, according to the U.S. newspaper Boston Globe on Friday. According to the daily, lawmakers voted 86-1 on Friday to back President Ilham Aliev’s request to withdraw the 150 troops serving as part of the U.S.-led coalition. The contingent has served in Iraq since 2003, working mostly as sentries, on patrols and protecting dams. It is unclear when the pullout will be completed. The newspaper explained that Aliev has sought to strengthen his oil- and gas-rich country’s ties with the European Union and the United States, in part to balance Russia’s enormous clout in the Caspian region. The government earlier this year doubled its peacekeeping force in Afghanistan to 45 soldiers and has also sent troops to Kosovo. MH (P)/AmR 1