ARMENIA’S PARLIAMENT APPROVES EXTENDING SMALL TROOP PRESENCE IN IRAQ

Associated Press Worldstream
December 6, 2006 Wednesday 2:17 PM GMT

Armenia’s parliament on Wednesday approved extending this ex-Soviet
republic’s small troop presence in Iraq for one year.

Lawmakers in the 131-seat parliament voted 85-19, with one abstention,
to extend the mandate of the 46-member contingent.

The peacekeepers have been deployed in Iraq since January 2005. They
serve under the Polish command.

President Robert Kocharian and his government have sought to portray
the deployment as a way to boost ties with Europe.