"The number of soldiers in the Polish contingent of about 2,400 will not change but we will change the make-up of the units", stationed in Iraq, PAP news agency cited Szmajdzinski as saying.

Szmajdzinski said that "more elite soldiers and special units" were needed in Iraq. The number of such troops in the Polish contingent would therefore rise by about 10 percent to give it a bigger combat capacity.

Polish chief of staff General Czeslaw Piatas meanwhile said that Polish troops would be equipped with more armored vehicles and more long-range weapons.

Szmajdzinski had said last week he believed the Polish-controlled zone in Iraq could come under increasing attack.

"We cannot rule out terrorist activities being transferred," he said, "because terrorist groups are being increasingly expelled from the north and Baghdad".

"The nature of the attacks (on coalition forces), the way in which they were carried out, leads us to believe that there will be other attacks," Szmajdzinski was quoted by PAP as saying.

Polish troops head a 9,000-strong multinational division in the Polish-administered zone, which has been relatively spared the attacks experienced in other parts of the country.

Szmajdzinski has said that Polish soldiers will not stay in Iraq beyond 2004 in their current form, citing Warsaw's limited financial means.

WAR.WIRE