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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Iraq pledge by Australia PM-elect | Iraq pledge by Australia PM-elect |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| Australia's prime minister-elect says the country's 550 combat troops will leave Iraq by the middle of 2008. | Australia's prime minister-elect says the country's 550 combat troops will leave Iraq by the middle of 2008. |
| Kevin Rudd, who beat incumbent John Howard in last weekend's election, had previously promised a gradual withdrawal of Australian troops. | Kevin Rudd, who beat incumbent John Howard in last weekend's election, had previously promised a gradual withdrawal of Australian troops. |
| He made the pledge in an Australian radio interview, but said there had been no discussions yet with the US. | He made the pledge in an Australian radio interview, but said there had been no discussions yet with the US. |
| Under Mr Howard, Australia was a keen supporter of the US-led invasion and made an early troop commitment. | Under Mr Howard, Australia was a keen supporter of the US-led invasion and made an early troop commitment. |
| Most of Australia's 1,500 troops are based in the south of Iraq, focusing on security and the training of Iraqi forces. | |
| 'Single greatest error' | |
| "The combat force in Iraq, we would have home by around about the middle of next year," Mr Rudd told a Melbourne radio station, adding that he would leave behind some Australian soldiers, including those providing security at Australia's embassy in Baghdad. | |
| "We'll have a meeting with the United States ambassador before too long to set up the appropriate processes for discussing that," he said. | |
| Labor Party leader Kevin Rudd came to power in a landslide election victory on Saturday. | |
| He has previously described the decision to go to war as the "single greatest error" of Australian national security and foreign policy decision-making since the Vietnam war. |