ARMENIA TO DEPLOY MORE SOLDIERS TO KOSOVO

Serbianna.com, Michigan
Nov 15 2006

YEREVAN, Armenia-Armenia held farewell ceremonies Tuesday for 34
peacekeepers deploying to Kosovo as part the U.N. mission there.

The troops depart Wednesday as part of the sixth rotation of Armenian
peacekeepers to the Balkan region, where they have served since 2004
alongside a Greek battalion.

Lt. Gen. Artur Agabekian said Armenia planned to have a fully
functioning peacekeeping brigade by 2010, and would begin forming a
second battalion early next year.

Some 17,000 NATO-led peacekeepers are deployed to Kosovo, which has
been administered by the U.N. and NATO since 1999, when a U.S.-led
air war put an end to attacks by Serb forces against the province’s
ethnic Albanian majority.

Armenia also has deployed nearly 50 troops to Iraq to serve as part
of the U.S.-led coalition.

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