(Tbilisi, August 3, 2003, Civil Georgia) - Today evening first Georgian military unite will be dispatched in Iraq as a Georgia’s contribution to Operation Iraqi Freedom.

The combined unit of a 34 person Infantry Platoon from the Kojori Special Forces Battalion, a 20 person Medical Services Detachment, and a 15 men Engineer Detachment from the Ministry of Defense’s Rapid Reaction Force will be deployed in Baghdad on August 3.

US Ambassador in Georgia Richard Miles and Georgian Defense Minister Davit Tevzadze, as well as other officials f! rom the US Embassy and Georgia’s Ministry of Defense, will attend the departure ceremony in Alexeevka military airfield.

General Joni Pirtskhalaishvili, the Chief of the General Staff, has inspected this unit and declared that they are ready for the mission ahead of them. Preparations are already underway to identify and prepare the next combined Georgian unit to follow.

Georgia was one of the first nations to volunteer to assist the United States in the Global War on Terrorism.