Source: Tanjug
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Commander of the U.S. troops in KFOR, Colonel Jeffrey
Leithen, has said that the U.S. would not withdraw its
troops from Kosovo in 2012.
On Tuesday, Colonel Leithen told Radio Tema, based in the
city of Urosevac, southern Kosovo, that the current U.S.
contingent would remain in Kosovo until September 2012 and
then be replaced by new troops that should stay in Kosovo
until June 2013.
That is what I can say for sure, he said, adding that it was
completely normal that the U.S. Army troops should leave
Kosovo some day, according to the Koha NET
website.
Leithen refuted recent media speculations about the
possibility that the current U.S. troops might be replaced
by the country's troops from Turkey.
He said that the people who would replace the current U.S.
Army contingent at Camp Bondsteel were coming from the U.S.
state of South Carolina, adding that it would be the 16th
U.S. contingent since the launch of the KFOR
mission.
Media wrote recently that the U.S. would withdraw its troops
from Kosovo by end of 2012, as part of budget-saving
measures in the United States Army.
The Albanian National News Agency (NOA) said that the
allegations about withdrawal of American soldiers from
Bondsteel could trigger instability in Kosovo.