SK sending 3,000 more troops to Iraq

The South Korean government is dead set on sending 3,000 more troops next month to Iraq in a show of continued defiance against insurgents and outrage over the killing of their national who was beheaded last month.

The latest deployment of 3,000 military logistics defense personnel to violence-plagued Iraq makes South Korea’s troops the third largest contingent next to the United States and Japan.

These countries are among the coalition forces that have stayed on to help the Iraqi transition government in the post-war reconstruction of their country.

The forthcoming deployment was learned by The STAR yesterday from a senior official of the South Korean embassy in Manila.

This developed as South Korea sought out clearer statements from the Philippine government as Manila softened its stance against the Iraqi militants holding hostage Filipino truck driver Angelo de la Cruz.

Seoul did not accede last month to the demand of the insurgents for their troops to be pulled out in exchange for the safe release of South Korean translator Kim Sun-il.

The South Korean government had maintained it would not back down from its commitment to deploy some 3,000 more military troops to Iraq.

Kim was subsequently beheaded on June 22, or a week after he was kidnapped.

Kim was the latest of at least four foreign hostages executed in Iraq by Islamic militants in recent months.

Another hostage, American Nicholas Berg. was also beheaded when his captors’ demands for the US to release its Iraqi prisoners and leave the Arab peninsula were not met.

In spite of negotiations, Kim was still executed.

"We negotiated with them (Iraqi militants) but they still went on with their gruesome killing," the South Korean official lamented.

Requesting not to be named, the South Korean official expressed his government’s confusion over statements being issued by Malacañang and the Department of Foreign Affairs on the Philippines’ stand on De la Cruz’s plight.

The Philippine announcement, which said the pullout was beginning immediately, was a dramatic turnaround by one of Washington’s biggest backers. Manila earlier vowed it would not yield to pressure to move up the withdrawal, which had been scheduled for Aug. 20 when the force’s mandate ends.

"In our case, we are in fact, sending 3,000 more (personnel) to the logistics defense (team) to Iraq," the South Korean official said.

"And like you, we have a newly installed government, just 15 days old and we are sending more troops to Iraq," he added.

The South Korean government, however, has not officially issued any comment on the situation of the Filipino hostage in Iraq.

US Ambassador Francis Ricciardone reportedly quietly called on Malacañang yesterday to personally relay Washington’s concern over the Arroyo administration’s apparent caving in to the demand of the Iraqi militants.

Australia has expressed its disappointment over the Philippine pullout of troops, asking the Arroyo government to reverse its decision.

Australia’s foreign minister yesterday said he was "extremely disappointed" with the Philippines as he warned that other countries with forces in Iraq "would pay the price" for this move.

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer telephoned Ambassador in Canberra Cristina Ortega to say "he would be extremely disappointed if that happened," Downer’s spokesman Chris Kenny said.

"He (Downer) said countries cannot give in to the demands of terrorists because we would all pay the price," Kenny said.

"If countries give in to terrorists it will only encourage them to kidnap more hostages in an attempt to change the foreign policy of countries. Australia could not and would never do that," he said.

Downer told Ortega that Australia realized her government was in a horrible and trying situation but urged it to maintain its original timetable of Aug. 20 for withdrawal.

Australia also has been a key US ally in Iraq. Canberra sent 2,000 troops to take part in last year’s invasion and still has 850 military personnel in and around Iraq. — With AFP reports