Middle East News
Polish government seeks to pull troops from Iraq by next October
Dec 18, 2007, 12:17 GMT
Warsaw- The Polish government put forward a proposal to President Lech Kaczynski Tuesday extending the mission of Polish troops in Iraq only until late next October.
In Poland, the head of state decides on the deployment of troops abroad and the present mandate expires on December 31 this year.
A total of 900 Polish soldiers are to remain until the withdrawal from Iraq, the government announced after a cabinet meeting, and 300 would remain on standby in Poland.
It is uncertain whether the president will agree to the bill. His spokesman had indicated last Sunday that Kaczynski was against ending the mission early, and doubted whether the president would sign it.
The head of the presidential National Security Council Wladyslaw Stasiak, however, believed a compromise could be reached.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the president would be showing 'extreme irresponsibility' by refusing to sign the bill. If the mandate was not extended, then Polish soldiers should not spend 'a day longer in Iraq,' he said last Sunday.
'The president has no choice,' he added. Otherwise, he would have to take responsibility for a swift evacuation of the troops 'within days' which was not possible.
Poland has been participating in the US-led intervention in Iraq since 2003. More than 90 per cent of Poles reject extending the mandate beyond 2008.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-AgenturCOMMENT
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