Bulgarian army to punish top soldier in Iraq (For the U.S. shooting of Bulgarian Soldier)

deepikaglobal ^ | 3/28/05

[areafiftyone]

SOFIA, Mar 28 (Reuters) Bulgaria will punish the head of its military operations in Iraq, the Defence Ministry said today, but declined to say whether it was linked to the killing of a Bulgarian soldier by U.S. troops earlier this month.

The NATO newcomer has blamed U.S. forces for accidentally killing junior sergeant Gurdi Gurdev on March 4 when they fired on his patrol in southern Iraq, but it has also said poor communications with its allies played a role.

Colonel Geno Chepilski, Bulgaria's senior representative in Iraq was responsible for coordinating with U.S. troops, but Defence Minister Nikolai Svinarov refused to say whether Chepilski would be recalled or whether his punishment was linked to the shooting.

''We will not comment now on the essence of the sanctions or whether or not there is a direct link with the concrete incident,'' he told national radio.

Local media reported on Monday that Chepilski would be replaced by a former commander of the Balkan country's 450-strong light infantry battalion.

Gurdev's death -- Bulgaria's eighth in Iraq since the war started in 2003 -- has raised pressure against ex-king Simeon Saxe-Coburg's government ahead of summer elections to withdraw from the deeply unpopular mission.

Some three-quarters of Bulgarians disagree with the war, and the opposition Socialists, who have a strong lead over Saxe-Coburg's centrist NMS party, have pledged to immediately pull out if they lead the next government.

Last week, Bulgarian military leaders proposed cutting troop levels in Iraq to about 350 by June and withdrawing them completely by the end of the year.

Parliament has final say over any deployment, although the United States has asked Bulgaria not to set a specific date for the pullout and to possibly stay longer.