SOFIA, July 30 (AFP) - The chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff General Richard Myers thanked Bulgaria on Friday for its "sacrifices" in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"We appreciate Bulgaria's contributions to the security and the reconstruction in Iraq and Afghanistan," he said at the end of a two-day visit.
Bulgaria has 470 soldiers stationed in Iraq as part of the international force there. Pressure has been mounting on the government to withdraw them following a series of incidents, including a deadly suicide bombing in December in which five Bulgarian soldiers died.
"The sacrifices made by Bulgaria in December (were) extremely noble", said Myers.
A Bulgarian truck driver was recently beheaded by hostage-takers and his body dumped in the Tigris river, while another Bulgarian is still being held somewhere in Iraq.
The Bulgarian government has maintained that it will keep its military contingent in post-war Iraq "for as long as the Iraqis wish" or until the end of 2005, in accordance with a UN resolution.
Bulgaria has also said it will spend 95,000 euros (almost 115,000 dollars) training Iraqi policemen as part of efforts to help restore stability in the country.
Bulgaria, which became a member of NATO in March, also has 66 men in Afghanistan as part of the NATO-led security assistance force (ISAF) there.