Spain extends troop duty in Iraq
From CNN Madrid Bureau Chief Al Goodman
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Seven Spanish intelligence agents south of Baghdad on November 29.
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MADRID, Spain (CNN) -- The Spanish government says the country's 1,300 troops stationed in Iraq will remain on duty an extra six months, through June 30, 2004.
The combat-trained troops are stationed in the Polish-controlled sector south of Baghdad. The Spanish troops arrived last August, with
Spain's commitment to keep them in place at least through the end of this year.
The expected six-month extension was approved at the Prime Minister's weekly cabinet meeting Friday, and announced afterward by Eduardo Zaplana, the government's chief spokesman who is also a member of the cabinet.
The conservative government of Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar has been among the staunchest supporters of the U.S.-led war in Iraq and the coalition effort to stabilize and rebuild the nation.
But the support has not been without its costs for Spain. A total of 10 Spanish military men have died since August in Iraq.
The biggest blow was the ambush and killing of seven Spanish intelligence agents south of Baghdad on November 29. All were career military men attached to Spain's National Intelligence Center, the nation's spy agency. (Full story)
U.S. forces in Iraq this week made arrests of many suspects thought to have been involved in that ambush.
In October, a Spanish diplomat also attached to Spain's intelligence agency was shot and killed near his residence in Baghdad. That diplomat, Jose Antonio Bernal Gomez, 30, lived outside a secure area. He was also a career military man.
Following that attack, Spain withdrew six workers from its embassy in Baghdad. They were sent to Jordan while Spain prepares to move into a more secure embassy facility in Baghdad.
On August 19, Manuel Martin-Oar, a Spanish naval officer, was killed in the bombing of the U.N. headquarters in Baghdad. He survived the initial blast, but died from wounds and internal injuries.
The other Spanish victim, also in October, was a soldier killed in what officials said was a shooting accident.
