"Any country willing to participate should have a chance to participate in Iraq's reconstruction -- this should be under UN patronage," Miller told journalists after meeting Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev.

The US House of Representatives late Thursday passed a supplementary budget amendment excluding France, Germany, Russia and Syria from taking part in US-funded reconstruction bids in Iraq, because they opposed the US-led war in Iraq.

Poland, which joined NATO in 1999, has been a staunch backer of the US-led attack on Iraq and has sent elite troops to help protect Iraqi oil rigs.

Ex-Soviet Kazakhstan has expressed guarded acceptance of the need for the US-led war, despite opposition from Moscow and among Kazakhstan's broadly Muslim population.

WAR.WIRE