Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov disbanded the Bulgaria's fifth infantry Iraq battalion on Friday.

Defense Minister Veselin Bliznakov, the Chief of Army Staff General Nikola Kolev, the officers and commanders of the last five units also took part in an official ceremony held in Karlovo in central Bulgaria.

Parvanov highly evaluated the contributions made by the Bulgarian soldiers to the peacekeeping mission in Iraq for the last 29 months. The Bulgarian contingent had to protect convoys, train Iraqi troops and participate in reconstruction projects in Kerbala and Diwaniya, south of Baghdad.

The abilities and determination of the Bulgarian contingents in Iraq, which remain a stable part in the world wide anti-terrorism war, have been completely proved, said the President.

Parvanov stressed that Bulgaria would continue to fulfill its obligations to keep peace and stability of the world, which requires the Parliament to think over the national interests carefully, as well as the national priorities and resource assurances for the Army, before making decisions.

"Because the decisions changed the relationships of the Bulgarian politics, the country's institutions and especially the relationship between the Bulgarian society and the soldiers." explained the President.

The Bulgarian government is to decide on the deployment of the non-combat unit of about 120 soldiers to Ashraf in the next week.

Nearly all soldiers of the Bulgarian contingent in Iraq returned home by Dec. 30, 2005, according to the withdrawal decision made by the Parliament in last May. Bulgaria had counted 19 deaths - 13 military and six civilians - since the beginning of the operation in August 2003.

Source: Xinhua