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A first batch of 250 Polish soldiers were due to leave Warsaw for Iraq Wednesday on peacekeeping and reconstruction missions in one of the three postwar sectors in the country.
The first batch of soldiers, consisting of a logistics unit and an advance team of officers, would be officially seen off by Prime Minister Leszek Miller later Wednesday.
Along with US and British forces, the Polish-led international stabilization force will run the central part of Iraq.
The Polish-led force, comprising 9,000 soldiers from 15 countries, is expected to be fully operational by September this year.
The first 250 soldiers are scheduled to prepare the ground for Poland to command the stabilization force.
Poland lent its staunch support to the United States in March for a war to topple Saddam Hussein's regime. In return, Washington invited Warsaw to run one of the three sectors in postwar Iraq.
(Xinhua News Agency July 3, 2003)
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