Germany says no target date for full Bosnia exit

WIESBADEN, Germany, Mar 2 (Reuters) Germany today dismissed speculation it was about to pull all its 850 troops out of Bosnia, denying it had set a target date for such a move.

''We are not at this point completely pulling out,'' Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung told a news conference after a meeting of EU defence ministers.

''We must continue to look closely at the general situation as regards how the next steps will be implemented,'' he added.

The Financial Times, citing an EU diplomat, reported today that Germany was preparing to follow Britain in deciding to withdraw its troops from Bosnia.

''The decisions for force transition are still in progress.

But the Germans are on the way out,'' the unnamed diplomat said.

London announced yesterday it would pull out its more than 600 troops from the Balkan state as security concerns ease.

British Armed Forces Minister Adam Ingram said this followed a European Union decision on Tuesday to cut its 6,000-strong peacekeeping force in Bosnia to 2,500 in June.

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said this week that EU officials were now much more relaxed about security in Bosnia, but one EU official said no timetable had been set for ending the military presence in the country.

REUTERS SI BST2047