Denmark votes to keep troops in Iraq another year

COPENHAGEN, May 30 (Reuters) Denmark's parliament today voted to keep its troops in Iraq for another year but the bill was opposed by all parties except the ruling centre-right coalition and its ally, the anti-immigrant DPP.

The government, led by Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, said earlier this month it would shift some of its 530 troops to UN duties. The changes would mean a small net reduction in the force of 10 to 40 personnel.

The new mandate for the Danish force expires on July 1, 2007. The troops are stationed near Basra in the south of Iraq.

Rasmussen, who visited the troops in Iraq last week, has said Denmark will stay in Iraq as part of a multi-national force for as long as the Iraqi government wants.

The Nordic NATO member has been part of the US-led multi-national security force in Iraq since the end of the 2003 war.

Three Danes have died in Iraq since 2003, while Denmark's image was hit across the Muslim world by the publication of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad in a Danish newspaper last year.

The opposition, including Social Democrats and Social Liberals, opposed the bill to renew the troop mandate. In January, the Social Democrats supported a six-month extension but the party has reversed its support in recent months in the face of the increasing civilian death toll in Iraq.

The opposition favours civilian aid rather than military action.

REUTERS CH RK2240