Bulgarian Troops to Remain in Iraq

Bulgarian troops will continue serving in Iraq despite renewed attacks in the Iraqi city of Karbala, where a Bulgarian soldier was killed on Friday, parliament's foreign policy committee said. The decision followed the death of Sgt. Dimitar Dimitrov, 25, in a convoy ambush Friday. He was the sixth Bulgarian soldier killed in Iraq. On Thursday, the Bulgarian base Kilo in Karbala came under fire from a passing car, but no casualties or damage were reported. Committee chairman Venko Alexandrov said Friday that the troops would stay and that their rules of engagement were aggressive enough to allow them to defend themselves. Five legislators have urged the government to pull the troops out of Iraq by July 10, saying they fear Bulgaria might become a terrorist target. The motion for withdrawal from coalition forces in Iraq is doomed to fail, since all parliamentary groups support Bulgaria's military commitment in Iraq. It was not immediately clear when parliament would debate and vote on the motion. Bulgaria's stance remains "clear and unchanged," Defense Minister Nikolai Svinarov said.