Georgia says to withdraw 1,000 soldiers from Iraq

TBILISI (Reuters) - Georgia will withdraw 1,000 soldiers from Iraq to help fight off Russian forces in Georgia's breakaway region of South Ossetia, the head of Georgia's Security Council, Kakha Lomaia, said on Friday.

"We have already communicated to our American friends that we are going to withdraw half our contingent of soldiers in Iraq within days because we are under Russian aggression," Lomaia told Reuters. "These are some of our best soldiers," he said.

(Reporting by James Kilner; Editing by Sami Aboudi)