The Yes vote by all 313 deputies present came more than a month after the Socialist-led government had urged the assembly to approve the deployment, which will consist of military transport and humanitarian relief personnel. Under the resolution the Hungarian soldiers are allowed to remain in Iraq until the end of 2004.

The initiative, which needed a two-thirds support in parliament for approval, was last month twice voted down by opposition parties.

The conservative opposition, led by the Fidesz party, had until last week stonewalled the government's initiative, arguing that without a United Nations mandate the Hungarian troops in Iraq would be part of an occupying force.

Fidesz relented last week, saying the decision by the UN Security Council to lift economic sanctions on Baghdad gave a legal endorsement for Hungary to participate in the reconstruction effort.

Although the government originally planned to send peacekeepers, the final agreement it struck with the opposition was for troops specialised in logistics and humanitarian work.

Defense Minister Ferenc Juhasz said the contingent could be in Iraq by August.

Hungary, which joined NATO in 1999, was part of the coalition which supported the U.S.-led war to oust former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

WAR.WIRE