Poland will pull out of Iraq by end of 2005

POLAND said it aims to withdraw all of its 2500 troops from Iraq during the course of next year, a major disappointment for Washington which sees Warsaw as one of its staunchest allies in Iraq.

Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski said Poland hoped “to finish our mission at the end of 2005.”

Poland is the fourth largest troop contributor to the US-led coalition in Iraq, but there is strong popular opposition at home to the deployment.