WARSAW,
October 5 (IslamOnline.net) – Poland, one of the main pillars of the
US-led occupation in Iraq, will soon fix a date for the withdrawal of
its 2,500 troops, its defense minister said Tuesday, October 5, while
his Italian counterpart also shocked Washington by saying that US
forces pullout from the Arab country would help Iraqi democracy.
Polish
Defense Minister Jerzy Szmajdzinski, speaking before tense talks with
visiting US Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, said that a
final timetable for the withdrawal would be decided soon after October
15, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
“There
is an ongoing debate within the government. Some preliminary
conclusions will be presented by the prime minister to the parliament
on October 15, when there is a vote on a no-confidence motion in the
government,” he told the private radio Zet.
“We
would like shortly afterwards to adopt a clear position and fix the
withdrawal date,” the minister added.
Polish
President Aleksander Kwasniewski said Monday, October 4, after talks
in Paris that no firm date to complete the withdrawal had been decided
yet, but confirmed that Poland hoped “to finish our mission at the
end of 2005.”
Popular
Opposition
Poland
is the fourth largest troop contributor to the US-led coalition in
Iraq -- after the United States itself, Britain and Italy -- and has
been one of Washington's staunchest allies there.
It
sent 2,500 troops to Iraq last year in the wake of the US-led invasion
and heads up a multinational division of 6,000 soldiers in
south-central Iraq.
Seventeen
Polish nationals have died in Iraq -- 13 soldiers and four civilians
-- including three soldiers killed in an attack last month near the
central Iraqi city of Hilla.
According
to a latest poll, more than 70 percent of Poles are opposed to the
presence of their country's troops in Iraq.
The
issue has sparked internal divisions within the Polish government,
with Prime Minister Marek Belka complaining that he had not been
consulted over the defense minister's announcement.
In
an interview with the daily Rzeczpospolita published Tuesday,
Belka insisted that Szmajdzinski's comments “do not reflect the
position of the government.”
But
Szmajdzinski stressed that he had agreed his latest announcement with
Belka.
“The
prime minister has authorized me to inform public opinion of this,”
he said.
Italian
Blow
 |
|
“It would strengthen the government and democratization,” said Martino
|
The
US received a further blow with Italian Defense Minister Antonio
Martino disagreeing with Washington that an Iraq pullout would not
help democracy.
“Both
Prime Minister Iyad Allawi and his Deputy Defense Minister Al Jabati,
whom I recently met, have outlined to us how much the withdrawal of
coalition forces would help Baghdad,” Martino told the newspaper La
Stampa.
“It
would strengthen the government and democratization.”
On
Monday, October 5, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini suggested
the possibility of the 3,000-strong Italian contingent being withdrawn
from Iraq, without giving any deadline.
Frattini
said that forces from Muslim countries should gradually take over from
troops of the US-led coalition.
“We
should tell our Arab friends that... there is a process of political
stabilization guided by the UN and that we need a commitment on the
ground from Muslim nations,” Frattini said in an interview with the
newspaper Corriere della Sera.
Analysts
in Warsaw and Rome believe that the US election is a key factor in the
apparent policy shift of the two allies as Democratic candidate Sent.
John Kerry leading incumbent George W. Bush after their first
televised debate.
“The
Polish government is trying to moderate its position (over Iraq) among
other reasons because there is a possibility that Kerry will become
president of the United States,” an analyst told AFP.
