Albanian army unit to join US troops in Kuwait

TIRANA (AFP) Apr 14, 2003
An Albanian army unit was to leave on Tuesday for the Gulf region to contribute to maintaining peace and protecting public buildings in Iraq alongside American soldiers, Albanian Prime Minister Fatos Nano said.

"We are obliged and honoured to remain with the coalition to contribute to reconstruction of peace and democracy in that region," Nano said Monday at a ceremony in Tirana.

Seventy soldiers of an Albanian commando unit will join the 5th corps of the US army, currently deployed in Iraq.

"Our soldiers will contribute to maintaining the peace," General Pellumb Qazimi, chief of staff of the Albanian army said, adding that the unit would also be charged with protecting important public premises in Iraq.

President Alfred Moisiu said Tirana was "convinced that Iraq, with the US engagement, supported by the United Nations and the international community, will take the road towards development and progress after the war."

Albania was among the first eastern European countries to support US military intervention in Iraq, opening its air space and ports for the coalition.

Its soldiers have so far taken part in the international peace missions in Afganistan and Bosnia.

SPACE.WIRE