S. Korea to withdraw all troops from Iraq by end 2007

South Korea's government decided Thursday to pull all of its 2,300 troops out of Iraq by the end of next year, the ruling Uri party said.

"The government reported to the Uri party that it will draw up a plan by the end of June to terminate the mission and wrap up the mission by the end of 2007," party spokesman Noh Woong-Rae told AFP.

South Korea, a key US ally, thus becomes the latest member of the US-led multinational coalition in Iraq to announce a timetable for withdrawal.

Earlier this week Britain, the second largest contributor, said it expected to withdraw thousands of its 7,100 troops from Iraq by the end of next year.

Poland has promised to pull its 880 soldiers out by late next year, while Italy has said its 60 to 70 remaining troops would be withdrawn by the end of this week.

The United States provides the vast majority of the total 160,000-strong multinational force.Seoul in 2004 deployed about 3,500 troops in Iraq, the largest contingent after the United States and Britain. A defence ministry spokesman was unsure whether it was still the third largest foreign force.

A South Korean cabinet meeting had on Tuesday agreed to halve the size of the troop deployment but to extend the mission until the end of next year.Under this plan, the number of troops will be cut from the current 2,300 to 1,200 next April.The Zaytun unit ("Olive" in Arabic) is based in the relatively safe northern city of Arbil and is engaged in reconstruction work.

South Koreans are sharply divided over the deployment, and the government started cutting its contingent in April, with more soldiers coming home than being replaced.

- AFP