"As regards Iraq, I'm going to talk about this issue in my expose, but you are right to say that I am not going to deliver any particular date on this issue," he told a joint news conference with Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern.

"I will be talking about how we are to continue with our activities in order to successfully complete our mission," he said, shortly after saying he was "deeply shocked" by the death in Iraq of one of Poland's star television reporters, Waldemar Milewicz.

Milewicz was killed in a drive-by shooting in Iraq along with his Algerian picture editor, Mounir Bouamrane. His cameraman and their Iraqi driver were wounded.

"We are going to talk about the calendar of our actions, the calendar of the tasks that will have to be fulfilled," Belka said.

"And we have to talk about it in terms of when to limit significantly the size of our contingent that is deployed in Iraq and finally when to withdraw totally our troops there," he said.

"But we don't know when it will happen. Everything will depend on the political situation in Iraq and in the region."

Belka's comments came a day after one of the two deputy prime ministers of Poland's new left-wing government, Izabela Jaruga-Nowacka, was quoted by a spokeswoman as saying that she was recommending a pullout of all 2,500 Polish troops in Iraq by year's end.

In a statement to the daily newspaper Zycie Warszawy, the incoming deputy premier said she hoped the new prime minister would announce the withdrawal plan when he addresses parliament on May 14 before the key vote.

Jaruga-Nowacka is the only member in the new government announced on Sunday from the socialist Union of Labour (UP), which was also the junior partner in the former leftist government of prime minister Leszek Miller.

Belka's Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) dominated government, which is in a minority in parliament, badly needs the support of the UP in a May 14 confidence vote, which will determine whether his government line-up becomes official.

The UP had previously said its support for Belka's government was conditional on a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq.

In addition to contributing around 2,500 troops to the US-led occupation force, Poland, which was a key ally of the United States in the Iraq war is in overall command of one of the military regions set up in Iraq.

WAR.WIRE