Australia withdraws troops from Iraq
NASIRIYAH, Iraq (AFP) — The 550-strong Australian contingent in Iraq withdrew from its bases in the south of the country on Sunday as most of the troops prepared to head home, Iraqi and Australian officials said.
The soldiers left following a flag-lowering ceremony at the Imam Ali airbase west of the city of Nasiriyah, the capital of Dhi Qar province, governor Aziz Kadoum Alwan said.
"The Australian soldiers left today from Dhi Qar and Muthanna provinces," Alwan said.
In Sydney the Australian Defence Force said in a statement that the "Overwatch Battle Group and the Australian army training team formally ceased operations at a ceremony at Camp Terendak at Tallil."
Australian troops had not taken part in direct combat operations and instead trained local security forces.
The new Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd had promised to withdraw all 500 combat troops from southern Iraq by the middle of the year.
Australian Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon said the withdrawal would close another chapter in his country's military history.
"Our soldiers have worked tirelessly to ensure that local people in southern Iraq have the best possible chance to move on from their suffering under Saddam's regime, and as a government we are extremely proud of their service," he said in a statement.
A spokesman for Fitzgibbon said the soldiers' return home would be completed by the government's deadline of mid-2008. "They will be moved home over the course of the next month," he said.
Australia lost just one soldier in Iraq and that death in April was judged the result of an "irresponsibly self-inflicted" gunshot wound, according to an inquest in Australia.
Iraqi security officials said about 400 Australians were headed home while the balance will remain in Iraq where they could be deployed in a security detachment in Baghdad.
When it announced its troop pullout in February, Australia said it would still have about 1,000 military personnel in and around Iraq, including a 110-strong security detachment in Baghdad.
It will also have personnel for Hercules and Orion aircraft based outside Iraq as well as a warship in the Gulf.
Australia has offered permanent residence status to hundreds of Iraqi employees who worked with the Australian troops.
Immigration officials would travel to Iraq and neighbouring nations to process applications from Iraqi employees of the military, the Australian government said last month.
The Iraq campaign was unpopular in Australia and was a key point of difference between Labour leader Rudd and conservative former prime minister and staunch George W. Bush ally John Howard, in last November's election.
