Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE=5/23/03

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE= POLAND/IRAQ (LONG ONLY)

BYLINE=STEFAN BOS

DATELINE=BUDAPEST

VOICED AT=

INTRO: Poland has pledged to raise the troops it needs for a Polish-led multinational stabilization force to keep the peace in a quarter of post-war Iraq. Friday's announcement came at a meeting in Warsaw, where military officials from 15 countries discussed the make-up of the contingent. Stefan Bos monitored the results of the meeting from Budapest.

TEXT: Although Poland has been the chief U-S ally in Eastern Europe, there has been concern the former Communist nation might not be able to deliver a promised peace contingent because of financial problems and disagreements with neighboring Germany.

But after two days of talks with envoys from more than a dozen countries behind the closed doors of Warsaw's Citadel fortress, Polish Defense Ministry Spokesman Eugeniusz Mleczak said his country "won't have any problems" raising the seven-thousand troops needed for the multinational force.

The Polish-led force is expected to deploy next month to maintain order and help set up new civilian authorities in a zone of south-central Iraq.

That region is home to three million people, and lies between the British-run area in the south and the U-S controlled zone in the north.

Few details of the force's make-up have so far emerged, although Bulgaria has offered five hundred soldiers to join Poland's own commitment of up to 22-hundred.

Local media also said potential contributors to the Polish-led force include Albania, Italy, Lithuania, Romania, Spain, Ukraine, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands and even the Pacific island of Fiji.

The Dutch Foreign Ministry confirmed the government is considering committing troops to a stabilization force in Iraq backed by a U-N Security Council resolution. Denmark is still reviewing the size of its troop offering, after parliament approved sending up to 380 military people to Iraq.

Non-NATO member Ukraine has said it needs an official request and parliament's approval before it can participate in the force.

New NATO member Hungary has so far only offered a transport unit after parliament failed to agree to bend the rules and urgently discuss a U-S request for peacekeepers.

In addition NATO -- which Poland joined in 1999 with Hungary and the Czech Republic -- has agreed to help Warsaw set up the force by providing technical assistance, such as setting up a headquarters, running communications, and sharing intelligence. (Signed)

NEB/SB/AWP/MEM