This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2004, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
BUDAPEST, Hungary - The last of Hungary's 300 soldiers serving in a transportation unit south of Baghdad left Iraq on Monday and will be home in a few days, a Defense Ministry spokesman said.
Hungary's parliament last year authorized the soldiers' mission, but restricted their activities to non-combat duties and set an end date of Dec. 31, 2004.
The Hungarian unit was based in the city of Hillah and mostly provided transportation services for coalition troops.
The Socialist-led government's plan to extend the mission by three months - until March 31, 2005 - was voted down in parliament last month by the center-right opposition.
Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany had backed the extension.
Still, the government pledged last week to send 150 soldiers to Iraq in the middle of 2005 to provide security at a NATO training camp for Iraqi officers.
