Forty-four soldiers and officers from a mechanical infantry division are heading for Basra in southern Iraq, where they will be serving as a part of Danish DANCON military unit in a British controlled sector, the report added.

On May 29 the Lithuanian parliament approved sending up to 130 troops to Iraq. The legislators decided that the mission could last up to 18 months.

It is planned that a second unit of Lithuanian troops will leave for Iraq in August, as a part of a Polish-led division, the defence ministry said.

Lithuania has already sent 10 logistics specialists to join US operations in neighbouring Kuwait.

Last year Lithuania was invited to join NATO, and it hopes to join the alliance next year.

WAR.WIRE