Romania will begin to withdraw its troops in Iraq from next year, Defense Minister Teodor Atanaxiu said in remarks published on Thursday.

The Romanian contingent will remain in Iraq this year and begin to pull out gradually in 2006, the Adevarul (Truth) newspaper quoted Atanaxiu as saying.

"We hope Iraqi troops would take over the mission from us from next year so that we could scale down our troops," said Atanaxiu.

He didn't give the exact date of the start of the withdrawal.

Atanaxiu's remarks appeared to be conflicting with those by Romanian President Traian Basescu who said last month that it was "unrealistic" for the allied peacekeeping troops to withdraw from Iraq before the end of 2006.

Basescu said Romanian troops would only pull out after the Iraqi government makes a request and reaches agreement with other members of the coalition countries who have contributed troops to the Middle East country.

At present, Romania has 860 troops in Iraq. They are responsible for maintaining security and training Iraqi troops.

Up to mid-August, the Romanian troops have provided training for 420 Iraqi soldiers.

Source: Xinhua