US closes exiles training camp after only 100 turn up

A US military programme in Hungary that was to train up to 3,000 Iraqi exiles to take part in the war against Saddam Hussein was closed down abruptly yesterday after dispatching less than 100 recruits to the war zone.

The decision to abandon the programme after only two months of operation had been taken in the past few days, said Major Bob Stern, the US army spokesman for the operation at the Taszar airbase, south-west of Budapest.

While Iraqi exiles are reported to be flocking home to join the fight against the US and Britain, the failure of Washington to attract exiles to the US banner appeared to be an embarrassment.

The Hungarian government agreed late last year to allow US army instructors to take over the airbase to train the Iraqi exiles over 12 months. Hundreds of US army trainers poured in from Fort Jackson, South Carolina, to take charge of the recruitment drive. Yesterday they were packing up to go home.

"The focus of the US military right now is on the coalition force's actions in Iraq," said Maj Stern. "A decision has been taken to suspend the training."

The decision suggests an abrupt shift in US strategy. As recently as a couple of days ago, Maj Stern told the US military's newspaper, Stars and Stripes, that he would soon be announcing the arrival of more Iraqis for training.

But yesterday he told the Guardian that he was not aware of any more Iraqis waiting to be trained. While Maj Stern declined to put a figure on the number of Free Iraqi forces trained at the former Soviet base, renamed Camp Freedom, Hungarian media reports have put the number at around 80.

The second group of 26 Iraqis completed a month's training last Friday. Those exiles were recruited in western Europe. An earlier group of around 50 Iraqis from North America are already in the war zone, mainly helping with the humanitarian effort centred on Umm Qasr.

"This has been very successful," maintained Maj Stern. "Our mission was to train every volunteer effectively and professionally. We did that and we're proud of that."

The Hungarian government was delighted to announce the end of the training programme a few days after several thousand anti-war protesters took to the streets of Budapest.