April 17, 2004

Portugal may withdraw its national guard contingent from Iraq if the security situation in the country continues to deteriorate, Interior Minister Antonio Figueiredo Lopes said.

"If the conflict were to deteriorate and the GNR (national guard) did not have what it required to carry out its mission, the only solution would be to withdraw," he told Antena 1 public radio.

Portugal's centre-right Prime Minister Jose Manuel Durao Barroso in November dispatched 128 national guards to southern Iraq to back the US-led coalition in the war-torn country, where they operate under British command.

Figueiredo Lopes had said on Wednesday that Lisbon would stand by its pledge to keep its contingent in Iraq despite growing unrest in the country and calls to bring them home.

"We will not abandon this nation which has been so martyred," he had told parliament.

He had also repeated Lisbon's willingness to extend its presence in Iraq even after June 30, when Washington is to hand over sovereignty of the country, if asked to do so by the Iraqi governing authority which will take over.

Left-wing parties argue the nature of their mission has changed to one of engagement in warfare because of the mounting attacks on foreign forces in Iraq and are demanding the national guards be recalled.

Nearly three in four Portuguese, or 71 percent, want the national guards to be withdrawn, a poll published last month found.

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