WASHINGTON, Dec. 29 (Xinhuanet) -- The U.S.-led military coalition in Iraq is shrinking, as two countries finished pulling their troops out this month and four others announced plans to remove hundreds more, the USA Today reported Thursday.

    Non-U.S. coalition forces in Iraq now number fewer than 23,000 from 24 countries, down from about 50,000 from 38 countries in 2003, according to the report.

    The United States is reducing its troop levels in Iraq as well,with plans to have about 130,000 troops there by spring 2006 instead of the 138,000 it had stationed there for much of 2005.The countries involved in pullouts or troop reductions include Ukraine and Bulgaria, which both withdrew the last of their troops Tuesday.

    The Netherlands, Poland, South Korea and Italy have reduced or plan to reduce their troop commitments.

    The troop withdrawals show that international support for the war in Iraq erodes and so does domestic support in the United States, U.S. military expert Michael O'Hanlon of the Brookings Institution was quoted by the USA Today as saying.

    All of the countries withdrawing troops have strong public opposition to the war, he said.

    The coalition troops being reduced are not heavily involved in combat and mainly work on humanitarian projects, provide support for other units or help train Iraqi forces.

    The 8,000 British troops in southern Iraq are the largest non-U.S. foreign force in the country.

    British Prime Minister Tony Blair visited them this month and hinted that he might begin bringing British troops home in 2006 but set no firm numbers or timelines. Enditem