A large convoy of Spanish armoured vehicles and troops was seen entering the Navistar military crossing point, near the Kuwaiti border post of Abdali, at around 1245 GMT.

The convoy comprised some 10 buses carrying soldiers, about a dozen military vehicles with mounted machine-guns, two dozen armoured personnel carriers and numerous military jeeps.

Spanish military officials on the scene refused to speak to the press.

It was not immediately clear how many more convoys, if any, would follow.

"The convoy began its journey at sunrise from the southern Iraqi city of Diwaniyah and should complete its cross-over into Kuwait before sunset," or 1400 GMT, a Coalition Provisional Authority spokesman earlier told AFP in Kuwait on condition of anonymity.

However, Spanish Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega told reporters in Madrid that "all the soldiers will have left Iraqi territory today by around 10:00 pm" (2000 GMT).

The defence ministry was expected to make a statement on the troop situation later Friday as the government completed its commitment to finish the mission as swiftly as a secure withdrawal allowed.

Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said last week he was glad he had decided to withdraw his country's troops from Iraq, especially given the upsurge in violence by insurgents and a scandal over the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by US-led coalition soldiers.

The bulk of the Spanish contingent, originally some 1,430 troops, left the war-torn country on April 28, with a small number of troops staying behind to complete the pullout.

Spanish soldiers finished withdrawing from their main base in the southern Shiite Muslim holy city of Najaf on April 27 and Spanish forces transferred operations at Diwaniyah to US forces on Sunday.

WAR.WIRE