Norway wants out of U.N. military brigade

OSLO, Norway, July 22 (UPI) -- Norwegian military officials say they want out of a U.N. rapid-deployment force known as the Multiple Standby High Readiness Brigade.

Known by the acronym SHIRBRIG, the force, based in Copenhagen, was established in the 1990s to be a standby brigade of 5,500 soldiers ready to be deployed in an emergency. But Norway says it has never been built up as intended and no longer wants to take part in it, Aftenposten reported Tuesday.

Many of SHIRBRIG's 16 member nations have committed troops to help the NATO effort in Afghanistan instead, Norwegian defense chief Sverre Diesen said in a letter to the brigade's leader, Gen. Franciszek Kochanowski.

Kochanowski told Aftenposten he knew that Norway and other Nordic countries wanted to "shut down SHIRBRIG by consensus."