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Poland Opts to Stay in Iraq

Poland`s two-month-old government plans to keep its soldiers in Iraq throughout 2006, countering the previous cabinet`s vow to pull out its contingent from the U.S.-led operations by this week. The new government asked Polish President Lech Kaczynski, who heads the army, to approve the plan to lessen troop numbers but prolong the country`s military aims in Iraq.

The announcement came as something of a shock to the three-quarters of Poles who oppose the country?s presence in the military operations in Iraq. General Stanislaw Koziej said that Poland plans to reduce its contingent to 900 soldiers in March from 1,500 now and then cut the number of soldiers stationed there "gradually" until a decision is made to pull out the contingent completely sometime at the end of 2006.

Prime Minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz of Poland said "Our plan is determined by the United Nations prolonging its mission in Iraq, and requests from the Iraqi government which asked us to keep our forces there longer." Poland is in charge of a sector of southern Iraq north of the area where Britain has security responsibilities.