ARMENIA EXTENDS PEACEKEEPING MISSION IN IRAQ

RIA Novosti, Russia
Dec 4 2007

YEREVAN, December 4 (RIA Novosti) – Armenia’s parliament voted on
Tuesday to extend the country’s military presence in Iraq by 12 months.

Armenia’s legislature ratified on December 24, 2004 a memorandum on
the dispatch of a peacekeeping contingent to Iraq for a term of 12
months. It has since twice prolonged the mission for another year.

Armenian Defense Minister Mikael Arutyunyan said a total of 276
servicemen had been sent to Iraq since early 2005.

Armenia’s participation in the peacekeeping mission, as part of the
Polish peacekeeping division in Iraq, gives the Caucasus state some
additional leverage in its relations with international organizations.

The proposal by the Armenian president to extend the term of the
country’s peacekeeping mission in Iraq was supported by 79 MPs,
with 10 votes against and 11 abstentions.

The Armenian peacekeeping contingent in Iraq comprises two staff
officers, three military doctors, an engineering unit (10 men) and
a transport platoon (31 drivers).