The military compound housing the Dominican army’s reconstruction contingent in Diwaniya, south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, suffered a mortar attack early Thursday morning, although no injuries have been reported. The news that five mortars had been fired at the base reached the Dominican Republic yesterday morning, as family members anxiously awaited phone calls from their loved ones serving in the distant Middle Eastern country. Sources from the Dominican military told the media that mortars were used in preference to the more deadly car-bombs because the extensive fortifications made it impossible for a would-be suicide car-bomber to penetrate the base. Colonel Camacho Ubiera, who is in charge of the Dominican battalion in Iraq, said he doubted the attackers were from the immediate vicinity of Diwaniya “because the Plus Ultra Brigade has been welcomed by the local population, who, in any case, are the first to suffer from such attacks.” Armed Forces Minister Jose Miguel Soto Jimenez said that President Hipolito Mejia was in favour of the troops’ swift return to the DR once their mission is completed, possibly before February 2004. Diario Libre’s main commentary expresses relief that the Dominican soldiers – who until now have been lucky – were unharmed. This latest incident will cause some to redouble their efforts to have the troops brought home, but the editorialist points out that a soldier’s work by nature implies certain risks. “Mejia decided to send troops to Iraq in a gesture of solidarity with the United States, our main trading partner, home to hundreds of thousands of Dominicans. This solidarity should not come to a halt, no matter how dangerous the mission,” says the Diario Libre writer. On the other hand, the previous Minister of Foreign Relations resigned from that post after opposing the Dominican Republic’s support of the war in Iraq.