New Polish Prime Minister to Loosen Ties With Us

Poland's newly elected prime minister moved yesterday to distance his country from America, raising questions about plans to site a US missile defense system on Polish soil and announcing the withdrawal of Polish troops from Iraq next year.

"In a year's time I will tell you here in this chamber that our military mission in Iraq is over," Donald Tusk said in his inaugural speech to the Sejm or Polish parliament. "We have taken the decision - as far as the government powers go - to make 2008 the year when the pullout of Poland's military mission is started and completed." The pullout had formed part of his election campaign and has the support of the majority of Poles.

The Polish military has had a presence in Iraq since the summer of 2003 and currently has 900 troops based in southern Iraq near Diwaniya, 125 miles south of Baghdad. More than 20 troops and civilian contractors have lost their lives.

The decision has yet to be given the final seal of approval by President Lech Kaczynski, who is commander in chief of the military, but it is believed to be unlikely that he will overrule the government's decision. Mr Tusk has made it clear that Poland will keep training Iraqi troops even after it withdraws from the country. It will also keep its 1,000-strong troop presence in Afghanistan.

The announcement marks Mr Tusk's first move to redress the balance in his country's relations towards the EU - which his predecessor Jaroslaw Kaczynski greatly antagonized - and away from the US.