Poland wants to pull out of Iraq as soon as possible, Defence Minister Jerzy Szmajdzinski said on Sunday as he arrived at a Polish military base in southern Iraq, the PAP news agency reported.Szmajdzinski left Warsaw for Iraq overnight Saturday, on a mission to assess the political and military situation in the area under Polish command, his office said in a statement.
"We want to get out of Iraq as soon as possible, but first we have to build solid security conditions there," the minister was quoted as saying following a religious ceremony for a Polish soldier who was killed in a car bomb attack on Saturday.
"Only a democratic Iraq" can ensure world security and therefore Poland's security, he said.
The defence minister announced that he would travel to Iraq to see the situation for himself following the car bombing, the third of a string of attacks that have left three soldiers dead and more than a dozen wounded in the past week.
"Our contingent is carrying out its mission at a difficult time, marked by a power struggle, which explains the attacks and guerrilla activities," the minister added.
Szmajdzinski said the next Polish contingent to leave for Iraq would be "smaller", without giving further details.
US ally Poland heads a multinational force of 6,500 administering a swathe of Iraq south of Baghdad. Warsaw has already said it hopes to reduce the number of troops it has in the country from 2,500 to 1,500 soldiers in early
Fourteen Poles have been killed in the country since the start of the US-led war -- 10 were soldiers and four were civilians.
Polish public opinion remains overwhelmingly opposed to Poland's participation in the US-led multinational force in Iraq.
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