WARSAW, Aug 25 (AFP) - The opposition Polish Peasants' Party said on Wednesday it planned to launch a petition demanding the immediate withdrawal of Polish troops from Iraq.
"We hope that millions of Poles will support the appeal to withdraw the Polish troops from Iraq," party leader Janusz Wojciechowski said.
Poland, a US ally, heads a multinational force of 6,500 administering a swathe of Iraq south of Baghdad.
It has recently come under increasing attack, and fourteen Poles have been killed in the country since the start of the US-led war -- 10 soldiers and four civilians.
The latest attack came on on Wednesday, when the Polish embassy in Baghdad was hit by a grenade that caused no casualties or material damage.
"It is a war which is causing more and more innocent people's blood to flow, where more and more Poles are dying, a war which makes the prospect of stabilisation in the world and a solition for Iraq more distant,
Wojciechowski said on Polish television.
He said the collection of signatures for the petition addressed to President Aleksander Kwasniewski and the government would start on Sunday.
Polls have shown public opinion here remains overwhelmingly opposed to Poland's participation in the US-led multinational force in Iraq.
Poland hopes to reduce the number of troops it has in the country from 2,500 to 1,500 in early 2005.