BBC, news.bbc.co.uk
Last Updated: Thursday, 3 July, 2003, 21:47 GMT 22:47 UK

Poland seeks Iraqi oil stake

Poland, which has sent troops to support the US-led forces in Iraq,
has acknowledged its "ultimate objective" is to acquire supplies of
Iraqi oil. The Polish Foreign Minister, Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz, said
his country had never disguised the fact that it sought direct access
to the oilfields. He was speaking as a group of Polish firms signed a
deal with a subsidiary of US Vice President Dick Cheney's former
company, Halliburton. The US firm, Kellogg, Brown and Root, has
already won million-dollar contracts to carry out reconstruction work
in Iraq. "We have never hidden our desire for Polish oil companies to
finally have access to sources of commodities," Mr Cimoszewicz told
the Polish PAP news agency. Access to the oilfields "is our ultimate
objective," he added. Polish soldiers are to command one of the
post-war administrative zones being set up to run Iraq. Poland firmly
supported the United States during the Iraq war, and sent a small
number of troops during the combat. About 250 Polish soldiers left for
Kuwait on Wednesday to begin preparations for a multinational
peacekeeping force in central Iraq. Poland will take command of more
than 9,000 troops from 15 nations - including 2,300 of its own - when
the force is ready at the beginning of September. The sector under
Polish command will be sandwiched between the US and British sectors.
It is the first time Poland has led such a large multinational
peacekeeping force.