BAGHDAD, Oct 10 (AFP) - Polish Defense Minister Jerzy Szmajdzinski made a surprise visit to his country's 2,500 troops in Iraq on Sunday, the Polish military said.
Szmajdzinski met with soldiers in Diwaniyah in southern Iraq and then headed to Camp Babylon outside of Hilla, it said in a statement.
During the trip Szmajdzinski announced plans to move the command for the Polish-led south-central multinational division from Hilla to Diwaniyah at the end of the year, according to Poland's PAP news agency.
But a Polish government spokesman later said the move had not been finalised and was only being discussed.
Szmajdzinski arrived from Bahrain where he joined talks with US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other members of the US-led multinational forces in Iraq.
Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski has said Warsaw wants to withdraw its troops from Iraq during the course of next year, adding that no firm withdrawal date had been decided.
Poland is the fourth largest troop contributor to the US-led forces in Iraq, and heads up a division of 6,000 soldiers in south-central Iraq, but there is strong opposition to the deployment at home.