Ukraine, Italian forces in Iraq near leaving

The Iraqi prime minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari met with Ukraine minister of defense and discussed with him the situation of the Ukraine forces in Iraq.

Jaafari told journalists that the Ukraine minister notified him that the scheduling of the withdrawal of their forces from Iraq will be part as of the coalition forces to be specified after the end of the coming legislative elections in Iraq.

Some 18 Ukraine soldiers were killed in Iraq since the deployment of the Ukraine unity in August, 2003.

In the same context, the Italian defense minister Antonio Martino said that the Italian government and the opposition which represents the central left will reach an agreement over a gradual withdrawal for the Italian forces from Iraq, noting that any decision in this regard will be subject to the situation on the ground, and that pulling out the forces does not mean escaping from Iraq.

In this regard, the American Army Lieutenant General David Petraeus said that a great progress was achieved in training the Iraqi soldiers on fighting. He added that 230,000 Iraqi soldiers will be ready to carry out assigned missions by the fall of the date of the legislative elections in December.