The arrival home of Tonga's last contingent of 55 soldiers to be deployed in Baghdad for the Operation Iraq Freedom II Peacekeeping Mission, has been delayed until Thursday December 18.

The contingent was expected this evening December 16, but due to delays in the flight schedule the arrival is now scheduled for Thursday.

Lt Col Siamelie Latu of the Tonga Defence Services confirmed today, that Tongan troops are pulling back from Iraq for good as agreed to with the United States.

He said the fourth contingent of 55 soldiers, under Commander Satisi Vunipola, with Captain Carl Tu'ivai as Platoon Leader, will arrive at Fua'amotu International Airport on a C-17 United States aircraft from Kuwait via Guam.

The soldiers who were deployed to Iraq in August were based at Camp Victory in Baghdad, the headquarters of the Multinational Force, at the Al Faw Palace.

Meanwhile, the Americans and the Iraqi Government have signed a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), which commits Washington to withdraw its troops by December 2011.

Afghanistan

Siamelie said the United States had highlighted to Tonga the possibility of sending a Tongan Peacekeeping Mission to Afghanistan "but we haven't discussed the issue," he said.

Tonga first sent a contingent of 44 soldiers to Iraq in 2004, in response to a request from the American government for assistance. To date a total of 210 Tongan soldiers have served in Iraq, and there have been no Tongan casualties.