RP army in Iraq to stay 6 more months

RP army in Iraq to stay 6 more months

PHILIPPINES: The Philippines will keep its 96-member security and humanitarian team in Iraq for six more months despite increasingly frequent attacks on the U.S.-led coalition forces, a military official said on Tuesday.

At least 43 soldiers and police will leave the Philippines for Iraq next month to replace personnel returning home at the end of their tour of duty, said Maj. Gen. Hermogenes Esperon, the military's chief of operations.

"We are preparing for another six-month extension of our troops to Iraq," he told reporters after a meeting at the Department of Foreign Affairs.

The Philippines, a stalwart ally to Washington in the war on terror and a member of the "coalition of the willing" during the U.S.-led attack on Iraq last year, now has 55 soldiers, 26 police officers and 15 medical workers in the war-torn country.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Delia Albert said the Philippines, which committed a 500-member contingent, lacked the funds to send more troops and humanitarian workers to Iraq.

She said the government would be able to send more personnel once the United Nations gets a more direct role in rebuilding the country. -- Reuters