SOFIA, Jan. 18 (Xinhuanet) -- The last four Bulgarian peacekeepers in Iraq were brought home by the American ship Independent on Tuesday morning.

    The Independent should have arrived at Port Bourgas two days ago. But due to bad weather conditions, she was forced to wait outside the Bosporus Strait of the Black Sea.

    An official ceremony of the disbanding of the Bulgarian Fifth Peacekeeping troops will be held on Jan. 27, the Bulgarian newspaper DUMA reported.

    Meanwhile, the Bulgarian government will deliver to parliament in two weeks a proposal to send troops to Iraq in "other forms" inthe near future, said local newspaper TRUD.

    The Bulgarian Parliament decided last May to withdraw the country's contingent from Iraq in three batches before the end of 2005, after successfully finishing its mission of protecting convoys, training Iraqi troops and participating in reconstruction projects in Kerbala and Diwaniya, south of Baghdad.

    Since the operation began in 2003, Bulgarian forces have suffered a total of 19 deaths in Iraq, 13 of which were military personnel and six were civilians. Enditem