By Xinhua
Bucharest : The withdrawal of Romanian troops from Iraq will be coordinated with American forces and not affect the international coalition, Romanian Defence Minister Teodor Melescanu said on Thursday.
“We wish to adopt a timetable together with the USA, without affecting the normal deployment in the field,” Melescanu said in response to the US request for Romanian soldiers to remain in Iraq.
“We think there are still a lot of things to do in Iraq. We wished for Romania to further remain alongside us,” said the US Ambassador to Bucharest Nicholas Taubman, who attended the Romanian-US Sniper Lance 2007 military exercise with Melescanu.
The US is grateful for the support of Romania in Iraq and Afghanistan, Taubman said.
The Romanian-American ‘Sniper-Lance 07’ military exercise, which started on April 23, focused on joint training exercises and the application of NATO tactics for air combat and dislocation and logistics procedures.