MANAMA, July 20 (AFP) - US Central Command chief General John Abizaid said here Tuesday the coalition in Iraq was still holding strong despite Manila`s decision to pull out in order to save the life of one of its nationals.
"The coalition is still strong; we hope that it will get stronger. We have the United Nations finding a bigger roll in Iraq now, but the most important part of the coalition is the sense of solidarity that we bring against this fight," he told a press conference.
Abizaid, who commands US forces from the Horn of Africa to Afghanistan, said it was "regrettable that countries would make decisions that appease terrorists as opposed to stand up to them."
But he added: "I don`t think that the coalition is falling apart. I think you will see in the next two or three months more nations coming to Iraq."
The Philippines withdrew its 51-strong security contingent from the war-torn country this week, bowing to the demands of kidnappers who had threatened to behead Angelo de la Cruz.
The decision was criticised by the United States and other allies, as well as by the new Iraqi government, which warned that Manila was encouraging more attacks and increasing the danger for the more than 3,000 Filipino civilians still working in Iraq.
Abizaid is in Bahrain on a regional tour that has already taken him to Saudi Arabia.
On July 2, Washington issued a terror alert for Bahrain, which hosts the US Navy`s Fifth Fleet and is home to some 5,000 Americans, most of them military personnel.
The United States is currently "temporarily relocating" 930 dependents of military personnel, non-emergency defence officials and families and non-emergency employees at its embassy in Bahrain.