Thailand has started to withdraw its military unit from Iraq just short of its one-year commitment, a spokesman of the Thai Government said. The last of the 443 Thai soldiers, originally scheduled to return to Thailand by 20 Sept 2004, will be out of Iraq by the end of August, General Pisanu Urailert said.

But military spokesman Major General Palangoon Klaharn said the move did not amount to an early pull-out. This is not regarded as moving out early, but a step-by-step process, he said, adding that the Thailand's troops would remain in the Middle East in the intervening weeks. Klaharn said that about 20 Thai soldiers had already been moved to Camp Virginia in neighboring Kuwait along with some of the unit's military equipment.

The Thai troops, part of a Polish-led multinational force, were dispatched last September for a one-year mission to perform only humanitarian tasks. Thailand sent medical teams into the surrounding community and helped construct roads and buildings during their assignment in Iraq. Two Thai soldiers were killed during an insurgent attack last December at Camp Lima, about 100 kilometers south of Baghdad.