Costa Rica Dropped From 'Willing' List

WASHINGTON - The White House has removed Costa Rica from an Internet list of nations in the so-called "coalition of the willing" in Iraq.

Costa Rica asked the United States this month to take it off the list after its Constitutional Court ruled that its presence on the list it violated pacifist principles of the Central American nation.

"The Costa Rican government expressed its desire to be removed from the list, and we have done so," a senior administration official said Monday about the listing, which was removed last week.

Costa Rican President Abel Pacheco said he had agreed only to join countries that were against terrorism.

State Department spokesman Tom Casey said earlier that Costa Rica's membership in the U.S.-led coalition was an expression of the country's opposition to terrorism. He noted that Costa Rica provided neither troops nor economic aid toward Iraq's reconstruction.

The White House says the list of coalition members remains on its Web site. On Monday, however, the site's link to the list went to a page that said the requested page could not be found.

However, a communique signed on March 19, 2003, by both Pacheco and Costa Rica's foreign minister, Roberto Tovar, remains on the White House Web site under the heading, "Statements of support from coalition members."

"Our vocation for peace must not be interpreted as indifference or tolerance in the face of terrorism," the communique says. "In addition, in the conflict between peace and terrorism, we are not neutral. Costa Rica is and will be a loyal, firm, and resolute ally in favor of those who look for peace, freedom, democracy, and respect for international law."