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Ukraine's Parliament Calls for Immediate Troop Withdrawal from Iraq


Ukraine's parliament has called for the immediate withdrawal of the country's troops from Iraq, following the death of eight Ukrainian soldiers on Sunday.

The lawmakers called for the pull-out in a non-binding resolution Tuesday.

President Leonid Kuchma on Monday ordered the country's foreign and defense ministries to draft a plan for withdrawing the troops over the next six months.

The eight Ukrainian soldiers were killed Sunday in an explosion at an ammunition dump in central Iraq. Officials in Iraq say the blast was an accident, but Ukrainian officials say they are looking into whether it was an attack.

Ukrainian President-elect Viktor Yushchenko has promised to make withdrawing Ukraine's more than 1,600 troops in Iraq a top priority.

Some information for this report provided by AFP and AP.

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