Copenhagen, Denmark, Jan 7, SPA -- Danish Defense Minister SoerenGade and 12 lawmakers made an unannounced visit to southernIraq this week to meet some of Denmark's 501 soldiersthere, the army said Friday. Gade and members of the Danish parliament's defense andforeign police committees arrived Wednesday in Basra, 400kilometers (250 miles) southeast of Baghdad, where theDanish troops are based. "As politicians it is important for us to get impressionsfrom the site and, at the same time, show the troops thatwe care for them," Gade said in a statement releasedFriday by Army Operational Command Denmark. The soldiers' six-month deployment ends in late June andis likely to be renewed.--SPA1430 Local Time 1130 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/230659