Bulgaria's cabinet on Thursday approved a plan to send a new non-combat contingent to Iraq.

The contingent, made up of about 155 soldiers and staffs, will be dispatched to Iraq in March, according to Bulgarian Defense Minister Veselin Bliznakov.

The unit will stay in Iraq for 12 months, Bliznakov said.

The Bulgarian unit will be under the command of the US military police, and the US side will help Sofia for the transports and logistics, he added.

Nearly all 400 Bulgarian soldiers returned home by Dec. 30, 2005, in accordance with the decision made by the Parliament last May.

Bulgaria had counted 19 deaths in Iraq, including 13 soldiers and six civilians, since August 2003.

Source: Xinhua