No Need To Replace Ukrainian Troops In Polish Force: Minister

Turkish Press ^ | 7/29/2004 | AFP

[lizol]

No Need To Replace Ukrainian Troops In Polish Force: Minister AFP: 7/29/2004 WARSAW, July 29 (AFP) - Poland will not need to worry about replacing Ukrainian troops, if they decide to withdraw from a Polish-led force in Iraq, Deputy Defence Minister Janusz Zemke said on Thursday.

"It will not be necessary," he was quoted as saying by the PAP news agency "because the Iraqi forces are taking over more and more of the tasks."

He was commenting after Ukrainian Defence Minister Yevhen Marchuk said on Thursday that Kiev will not allow its troops to remain part of the US-led coalition in Iraq for long and is negotiating with the coalition over their future in the country.

"We are negotiating with Poland and the United States concerning the number of our soldiers and the length of their stay -- we can't stay very long," Marchuk told reporters.

The former Soviet republic, which has sought closer ties with the United States, currently has a contingent of 1,650 troops serving as peacekeepers in the southern Iraqi sector overseen by Poland.

Zemke confirmed to the PAP news agency that the negotiations were taking place, adding "everything is going to plan... with respect for international commitments."

The Polish-led force was already badly dented earlier this year when Spain and some Latin American countries withdrew their troops.

Marchuk told journalists the Ukrainian defence ministry was preparing to rotate the contingent in September or October.

Despite offering its troops for the US-led war, Ukraine still has strained relations with Washington, which is concerned by Kiev's human rights record and alleged black market arms sales.

Poland's Defence Minister Jerzy Szmajdzinski has earlier said on several occasions that Warsaw itself is counting on a substantial withdrawal of troops from the country in early 2005.