Georgia to cut Iraq force from 2,000 to 300

TBILISI (Reuters) - Ex-Soviet Georgia will cut its troops in Iraq to less than a quarter of the current contingent by next June, the defense minister said on Friday.

"The Georgian contingent is being reduced to around 300 servicemen from 2,000," Defense Minister David Kezerashvili told journalists.

"We had an original agreement with the United States that we would cut our military contingent in Iraq in summer 2008."

Georgia, a tiny Caucasus nation which is a close U.S. ally and is seeking membership of NATO and the European Union, boosted its military force in Iraq from 850 to 2,000 earlier this year.

Kezerashvili said Tbilisi's decision to cut its troops in Iraq was not linked to Washington's plans to reduce U.S. forces in there by about 20,000 by next July, announced by President George W. Bush on Thursday.

Several Georgian soldiers have been wounded during their Iraqi mission but there have been no fatalities since the country first sent its troops to Iraq in 2003.

Georgian troops are in Iraq as part of the U.S.-led coalition. They have been deployed in and around Baghdad, patrol the area, take part in raids, man checkpoints and protect key infrastructure.