KUT, Iraq - Georgia will withdraw its entire 2,000-strong military contingent from Iraq within the next three days to join the fighting in the breakaway province of South Ossetia, a senior Georgian military official said Saturday.
"We are actually in the stage of preparing our departure," said Colonel Bondo Maisuradze, chief of Georgia's military operations in Iraq.
"We are waiting for the green light from Tbilisi to leave Iraq today, tomorrow or the day after tomorrow."
The US military has agreed to help with the logistics of the Georgian redeployment, Maisuradze added.
The move came as Georgian and Russian forces were locked in combat over the breakaway Georgian province of South Ossetia.
The departure of the brigade from Georgia -- the third largest contributor to coalition forces in Iraq after the United States and Britain -- will mean some slight changes, the US military said.
"We'll face structural changes, so we'll have to make changes. Fortunately, they are in a stable area of Iraq," military spokesman Major John Hall said.
Last year, the Georgians raised the number of troops in Iraq from 850 to 2,000 at a time when most non-American contingents were cutting back — a move that won them points with US commanders.
Some 2,000 Georgian soldiers are deployed near Kut, 175 kilometres (109 miles) south of Baghdad in the province of Wasit.
"They are setting up checkpoints with the border with Iran, and controlling entry and exit," said Siraj Al-Samach, a member of the provincial council.
The Georgian soldiers also have a presence in the Green Zone, the heavily-fortified sector of Baghdad that houses the US Embassy and Iraqi government institutions.
Georgia, a staunch US ally that is seeking NATO membership, last year doubled the number of its soldiers serving with the American-led mission.
Since Georgia's deployment to Iraq in August 2003 five soldiers have been killed.
A US military spokesman says the departure of the Georgian contingent — the third largest contributor to coalition forces after the US and Britain — will have "some impact" in the near term but no significant long-term effect in Iraq.
The Georgians have asked the United States to provide transportation, and US spokesman Capt. Charles G. Calio said all options are being considered.
Fighting raged a second day Saturday in Georgia's separatist South Ossetia region. On Friday, Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili told CNN that the troops in Iraqi would be called home to join the fighting and restore Georgian rule in the province.
Russia responded by sending troops into South Ossetia, saying it wanted to protect civilians in the province, most of who hold Russian citizenship.
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