15:03, 25 May 2004

Rights activists advocate withdrawal of Georgian military from Iraq

Irina Sarishvili-Chanturia, the speaker of the former Georgian ruling bloc and chairwoman of the NGO League of People's Defense, is collecting signatures in support of the withdrawal of the Georgian military contingent from Iraq. 12 thousand signatures have already been collected, she told journalists on May 24. 30 thousand signatures must be collected for the parliament to consider the issue of the withdrawal of the Georgian servicemen. Ms Sarishvili-Chanturia has no doubts that such number of signatures will be collected in Georgia.

She explained the necessity of the withdrawal of the Georgian servicemen by saying that there would be large losses among them and that Georgia's participation in the anti-Iraqi coalition was fraught with the menace of terrorist acts on the territory of the country.

Source: Rosbalt News Agency