El Salvador's military chief in Iraq Col. Hugo Omar Orellana Calionio said Thursday that the Salvadoran troops will not withdraw, although troops from Spain, Honduras and the Dominican Republic would pull out, reports from Salvador said.

Orellana's remark echoed that of Foreign Minister Maria EugeniaBrizuela de Avila, who said Tuesday that her country's troops should remain in Iraq until the commitment to the coalition is fulfilled, which is due to end next August.

Orellana, commander of El Salvador's Cuscatlan Battalion, told daily La Prensa Grafica in Najaf that the withdrawal decision of Spain, Honduras and Dominica "is sovereign and part of democracy,"and it was up to these governments to "define what is convenient or not."

Honduras and the Dominican Republic have declared that their troops would be withdrawn from the war-torn country as soon as possible. Spain ordered soldiers Sunday to return home.

Orellana said he had not been officially informed who would lead the Salvadoran troops after the departure of Spaniards.

He said the withdrawal of the Spanish-speaking troops would notaffect communication of Salvadoran soldiers because "almost all the officials can speak English, and we have interpreters and translators for other languages."

The Salvadoran troops, alongside soldiers from Honduras and theDominican Republic, constitute part of the Spanish-led Plus Ultra Brigade, which is in turn under the command of Poland.

Although pledging to continue to stay in Iraq, Salvadoran Foreign Minister Maria Eugenia Brizuela de Avila added Tuesday that the "final decision" to order the anticipated withdrawal was in the hands of outgoing President Francisco Flores, whose tenure expires on June 1.

Just as Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero hasdone, she said, the newly elected Salvadoran President Elias Antonio Saca will have to assess the situation in Iraq and make a decision on the deployment of troops in Iraq.

Last February, Salvador deployed 380 soldiers in Iraq to rotate360 troops who had been engaged in reconstruction work in the Arabnation for six months.

Salvador's Cuscatlan Battalion suffered a death and 12 injurieson April 4, when Shi'ite militants attacked the camp in Najaf city.

Source: Xinhua