- SEOUL (AP) -- South Korea
confirmed today that it will send thousands of troops to Iraq to help US
forces there.
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- Washington and Seoul, however, differed on the size of
South Korea's troop deployment, with Seoul offering to send 3000 soldiers
while Washington requested more, said Lee Soo-hyuk, a senior Foreign Ministry
official.
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- The two sides will continue their discussions when US
Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld visits Seoul in mid-November, said
Lee, who led a government delegation to Washington last week to work out
details of the deployment.
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- "After Turkey cancelled its plan to dispatch troops,
the United States earnestly wants other countries to send troops,"
Lee told South Korean news media.
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- "The United States expects much from South Korea,
which is a staunch ally."
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- South Korea, which already has hundreds of non-combat
troops in Iraq, said last month it would send more troops. But it did not
disclose the number, type and other details of the new deployment.
-
- Lee said South Korea wants to send troops for "peace
and reconstruction" in Iraq, indicating that it wants to dispatch
mainly non-combat personnel.
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- The United States asked for troops fitted for "stabilisation
operations," Lee added. Some unconfirmed news reports have said Washington
wants at least 5000 South Korean combat troops.
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- South Koreans are widely divided over the issue. Some
say an additional dispatch would boost Seoul's military alliance with Washington,
which is vital to South Korea's national security, especially at a time
of tensions over communist North Korea's suspected development of nuclear
weapons.
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- Others say the US war in Iraq was unjustified, and oppose
another dispatch.
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- The United States has been trying to solicit large numbers
of foreign troops to relieve the US forces in Iraq. But in a major setback
to US policy, Turkey on Friday called off plans to deploy about 10,000
Turkish troops, which could have become the third-largest force in Iraq
after Britain.
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- Pakistan and India already signalled they would not send
soldiers to Iraq. That forced the Pentagon to announce plans on Thursday
to alert an additional 43,000 National Guard and Reserve support troops
that they may be sent to Iraq as well.
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- Copyright 2003 News Limited.
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- http://news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,7821483%255E401,00.html
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