The Honduran troops in Iraq on Thursday began to leave the country for home, a military source announced in the Honduran capital Tegucigalpa.

Armed Forces spokesman Col. Rafael Moreno said on Thursday that the members of the Xatruch II Expeditionary Battalion flying from Kuwait to Honduras in two airplanes will arrive in Palmerola military base, central Comayagua, on Friday.

Honduran Parliament authorized on May 2003 the deployment of a 370-strong contingent to Iraq for one year, and actual deployment started in August.

The first contingent returned home in February, after they werere placed by a second group.

The second contingent of troops were originally due to return in July, but Honduran President Ricardo Maduro decided on April 19 to anticipate their withdrawal.

The decision was adopted after Spanish Prime Minister Jose LuisRodriguez Zapatero announced that their troops would return.

Source: Xinhua