Over 30,000 Georgians want country's servicemen in Iraq withdrawn

[Charles Brown <cbrown@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

http://www.interfax.com/com?item=Geor&pg=0&id=5779269&req=


Itar-Tass
December 21, 2004


Over 30,000 Georgians want country's servicemen in
Iraq withdrawn


Tbilisi - About 34,000 Georgians put their signatures
under the appeal to refrain from sending servicemen
for duty out of the country, and withdraw the military
contingent from Iraq, Irina Sarishvili-Chanturiya,
chairwoman of the People's Protection League, a
non-governmental organization that started the action,
told Interfax-Military News Agency Tuesday.

"According to our laws, it is necessary to collect
30,000 signatures for the parliament to take an appeal
for consideration. We collected 34,000, " she said.

Sarishvili-Chanturiya said that the appeal with duly
listed signatures of Georgian citizens will be handed
over to the parliament soonest, but no later than in
January. "We have a preliminary agreement with some
legislators to voice our requests which will be then
discussed," she added.

The collecting of signatures has been on since summer.
"The process gained momentum recently, with more and
more citizens speaking in favor of the withdrawal of
our servicemen from Iraq," she said.

Georgia has been involved in the operation of the
multinational forces in Iraq since 2003, with its 300
servicemen deployed there now. There are plans to
increase the strength to 850 in 2005.