BANGKOK, Aug 27 (AFP) - A small contingent of Thai troops was due to complete its withdrawal from Iraq on Friday, the military said, after a controversial year-long posting.
A 10-bus convoy carrying some 300 engineers and medics was expected to arrive in Kuwait at 8:00 pm local time (1600 GMT), a defence ministry spokesman told AFP.
The withdrawal from their base at the holy Shiite Muslim city of Karbala started on Thursday and the troops are expected to arrive back in Thailand from September 5-10, the spokesman said.
They are due to be flown back to the country by US transport planes, said the military. The troops' heavy equipment was moved out last month.
"The agreement (with the US) was that on September 20 all Thai soldiers must be back on Thai soil," said defence ministry spokesman Major General Palangoon Klaharn.
Thailand sent a contingent of 451 troops but two were killed in a car bombing in December in Karbala. Thailand remained neutral during the US-led invasion.
The withdrawal came despite a request from UN Secretary General Kofi Annan last month for the Thais to delay their departure because of the persisting security crisis in Iraq.