BAGHDAD, July 18 (AFP) - Polish Prime Minister Marek Belka, on an unannounced visit to Baghdad, renewed his country`s commitment to keeping its troops in Iraq during a meeting with Prime Minister Iyad Allawi on Sunday, officials said.
Belka confirmed Poland`s "plans to keep its troops as part of the multinational forces and to contribute to Iraq`s rebuilding process," Allawi`s office said in a statement, adding that the Polish leader had also visited his country`s troops at their Babylon base, south of the capital.
Belka was accompanied on his surprise visit by Defence Minister Jerzy Szmajdzinski, the PAP news agency said earlier from Warsaw.
PAP said they attended an arrival ceremony for a new commander at the base.
"We are counting on the build-up of the Iraqi security, police and self-defense forces as well as the Iraqi army," Belka told the correspondent of public Polish radio in Iraq.
He also announced that fewer troops would be sent to Iraq when parts of the Polish contingent are relieved.
Szmajdzinski has said that Warsaw was counting on a substantial withdrawal of troops from Iraq in early 2005.
On Sunday, Polish General Andrzej Ekiert replaced General Mieczyslaw Bieniek as commander of the multinational brigade in Iraq in a routine reshuffle.
Poland, one of Washington`s staunchest supporters in the Iraq war, patrols a large swathe of the country south of Baghdad, heading a 6,500-strong multinational force including 2,500 Polish troops.