Spanish defense minister visits last remaining troops in Iraq

MADRID (AFP) May 09, 2004
Spanish Defense Minister Jose Bono made a surprise day-long visit Sunday to Iraq, and declared that Madrid's 1,000 remaining soldiers there could be home ahead of an announced May 27 date, private Spanish radio reported.

Bono visited the Spanish base outside Diwaniyah, a town south of Baghdad where the remaining troops are based. The other Spanish base in the the holy city of Najaf was evacuated last month.

Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero announced the pullout on April 14, making good on his campaign pledge to withdraw from Iraq, and later said all Spanish soldiers would be home by May 27.

Cadena Ser radio said Sunday the withdrawal was proceeding ahead of schedule. The 1,300-strong Plus Ultra combat brigade was totally withdrawn by April 29 and the brigade has been dissolved.

The troops remaining in Iraq were deployed there to organize the Plus Ultra pullout.

The Spanish force was committed in mid-2003 to the US-led coalition occupying Iraq by the conservative government of former prime minister Jose Maria Aznar.

Zapatero's Socialist Party ousted Aznar's Popular Party in March elections, ending eight years of conservative rule.

WAR.WIRE