Salvadoran Foreign Minister Maria Eugenia Brizuela de Avila indicated Wednesday that her government's commitment to maintain troops in Iraq will expire in August and no accord stipulates a time extension, reports reachinghere said.

"The commitment that we have made was ratified by El Salvador's Legislative Assembly and that is what we respect. It is the promise made at an international level to keep the troops for a year," Brizuela said.

The new Salvadoran government, which is to come into power on June 1, will "have to make evaluation then of how events are evolving in Iraq and the demands of the United Nations for the presence that might be required," she added.

In February, El Salvador sent 380 soldiers to Iraq to replace the 360-strong contingent that worked in reconstruction tasks in the country for six months.

El Salvador's Cuscatlan Battalion is part of the Spanish-led Plus Ultra Brigade that also includes troops of Honduras and El Salvador.

Salvadoran President Francisco Flores will leave office on June1, but President-elect Tony Saca said during the campaign that he would not pull Salvadoran troops out of Iraq.

Source: Xinhua