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A Spanish military contingent will leave for Iraq on July 26 to join a Polish-led multinational force to police southern Iraq, military officials announced in Madrid Tuesday.
Commander of the contingent, Alfredo Cardona, said the Spanish troops will stay in Iraq till December.
Cardona will lead an Hispano-Central American brigade, which also includes units from the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador.
The United States, which launched the war on Iraq in March, had called on its allies to take part in peacekeeping operations in Iraq.
Last week, the Spanish government approved the deployment of 1,300 troops in Iraq and a Spanish vessel carrying logistic materials to support a peacekeeping mission departed for the Gulf on Saturday.
Spain's opposition and media have voiced disapproval of the mission, saying the troops would be put at serious risks. US troops in Iraq have come under increasing number of attacks.
Cardona shrugged off the fears, saying, "Every mission has its risk and it is difficult to compare them." He promised to avoid risks as much as possible.
(Xinhua News Agency July 16, 2003)
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