SARAJEVO, April 15 (Reuters) - Bosnia will send a multi-ethnic platoon to Iraq in June to help destroy tonnes of unexploded ordnance scattered around the country, Defence Minister Nikola Radovanovic said on Friday.
More than 50 Muslim, Serb and Croat soldiers and officers -- of which 36 would be selected for the first of two 6-month tours -- have almost completed training, conducted in part by U.S. military experts, Radovanovic told Reuters in an interview.
"Our target date is June 1," Radovanovic said.
"In Iraq there is a big concentration of storage sites with huge amounts of unexploded ordnance, weapons and ammunition and this unit will be deployed where it can be best used," he said.
Bosnia first indicated it would send soldiers to Iraq in 2003, partly in a gesture of gratitude for Washington's power-broking role in ending Bosnia's ferocious war and cementing peace with troops and generous aid.
The dispatch of the modest Bosnian unit comes as some of Washington's staunchest allies, such as Poland and Italy, have set dates to reduce or withdraw much bigger combat contingents from the international coalition aiding U.S. forces.
Radovanovic, an ethnic Serb who became Bosnia's first Defence Minister following the 1992-95 war last year, said he was aware of the dangers in Iraq but stressed the Balkan country needed to fulfil its obligations.
"In my opinion, these are important strategic decisions and in the international community you cannot change them from day to day," said the bespectacled former Yugoslav and Bosnian Serb army officer who holds a Masters degree from Oxford University.
He said the mission would also bolster Bosnia's bid to join NATO's Partnership for Peace cooperation programme, which is blocked because of a failure to arrest top war crimes suspects.
NATO wanted PfP members to offer specialised skills, the 44-year-old defence minister said. "Our intention is to develop de-mining and destroying unexploded ordnance, where we are already among the best in the world."
Bosnia was littered with unmapped minefields during the war, which claimed around 200,000 lives.
Bosnian opposition parties, media and ordinary citizens last year hotly opposed sending troops to Iraq, but that sentiment cooled as favourable financial terms on offer lured many soldiers.
Radovanovic said those who made the trip could count on up to $150 per day in addition to a regular wage of some $300-$500 a month, as well as a guaranteed job in the military on return.