SOFIA, Dec 9: Bulgaria will withdraw its 334-strong light infantry battalion from Iraq by the end of the year and after Iraqi parliamentary elections on Dec 15, Defence Minister Veselin Bliznakov said on Friday. With the decision, the poor Balkan state is speeding up a pullout originally expected to take several months. At US request, Sofia’s government delayed a plan to withdraw soon after winning June elections, but Bliznakov said troops would be home before the new year.—Reuters
