Another Nation to Pull Iraq Troops

The Dominican Republic will pull its 302 troops out of Iraq early, and Thailand will withdraw its 451 medical and engineering troops if they are attacked, officials said.

Dominican Gen. Jose Miguel Soto Jimenez made the announcement two days after President Hipolito Mejia pledged to keep the country’s troops in Iraq until their one-year commitment ended in August.

“The troops in Iraq will be coming back in the next couple weeks,” the Dominican general said.

Soto Jimenez said the president changed course based on security concerns after Honduras announced that its troops would be pulled back early.

On Sunday, Spain said its 1,300 soldiers would be withdrawn early.

Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s government is facing increasing calls to withdraw the country’s troops, who were sent last year to do humanitarian work in Karbala, about 60 miles south of Baghdad.

“If we get hurt or killed, I will not keep them there,” Thaksin told reporters.

The Thai Embassy in Sweden received a letter this month threatening Thailand with attacks similar to the train bombings that killed 191 people in March in Madrid, which were believed to be in retaliation for Spain’s sending troops to Iraq.

Thai soldiers have been confined to their Karbala camp since a wave of violence erupted across Iraq in recent weeks.