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Poland has vowed to keep troops in Iraq until the end of 2006.
The previous leftist government planned to pull all troops out early next year after gradually reducing its forces in the course of 2005.
But despite plans to cut the present total of 1,500 troops to 900 by next March, the new conservative government has decided to reverse that decision.
Prime Minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz told a news conference: "The government decided to ask the president to extend the deployment of Polish military forces as part of the international forces in Iraq from January 1, 2006 until December 31, 2006.
"We take into consideration the fact that the mandate of UN stabilisation forces has been extended to the whole of 2006 and, secondly, strong requests of Iraqi authorities that we stay there."
Polish troops in south-central Iraq are the fifth biggest military contingent after the United States, Britain, South Korea and Italy.
http://www.channel4.com/news/content/news-storypage.jsp?id=1677649
The previous leftist government planned to pull all troops out early next year after gradually reducing its forces in the course of 2005.
But despite plans to cut the present total of 1,500 troops to 900 by next March, the new conservative government has decided to reverse that decision.
Prime Minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz told a news conference: "The government decided to ask the president to extend the deployment of Polish military forces as part of the international forces in Iraq from January 1, 2006 until December 31, 2006.
"We take into consideration the fact that the mandate of UN stabilisation forces has been extended to the whole of 2006 and, secondly, strong requests of Iraqi authorities that we stay there."
Polish troops in south-central Iraq are the fifth biggest military contingent after the United States, Britain, South Korea and Italy.
http://www.channel4.com/news/content/news-storypage.jsp?id=1677649
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