Defence Minister Jerzy Szmajdzinski, speaking before holding tense talks with visiting US Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, said that a final timetable for the withdrawal would be decided soon after October 15.

"There is an ongoing debate within the government. Some preliminary conclusions will be presented by the prime minister to the parliament on October 15, when there is a vote on a no-confidence motion in the government," he told the private radio Zet.

"We would like shortly afterwards to adopt a clear position and fix the withdrawal date," the minister added.

After his hour-long meeting with Wolfowitz, Szmajdzinski said he had assured the US deputy defence secretary that Poland would honour its commitments in Iraq until the end of next year.

"(Poland) will definitely fully meet its commitments in Iraq for the whole of the year 2005," Szmajdzinski told reporters following the talks.

"The coming six months will be decisive for the process of stabilisation in Iraq and for its transformation into a democratic nation," he added.

Wolfowitz meanwhile thanked Poland for its role as part of the multinational force in Iraq, without commenting on a possible pullout plan.

"I want to thank you for the outstanding cooperation, both in Afghanistan and in Iraq," he told the Polish minister.

Later, however, in a speech before Warsaw University, Wolfowitz voiced veiled criticism of the Polish intention to leave Iraq.

"We mourn with Poland the sacrifice of 17 (Polish) soldiers and civilians in this noble fight for freedom. Every life lost in this cause is precious and we can honour their memory by ensuring that their sacrifice is not in vain," he said.

Poland is the fourth largest troop contributor to the US-led coalition in Iraq -- after the United States itself, Britain and Italy -- and has been one of Washington's staunchest allies there.

But the ruling centre-left party faces strong popular opposition at home, with a recent poll suggesting more than 70 percent of Poles are opposed to the troop deployment in Iraq.

Seventeen Polish nationals have died in Iraq -- 13 soldiers and four civilians -- including three soldiers killed in an attack last month near the central Iraqi city of Hilla.

US President George W. Bush, who faces growing public disquiet over the troubled US-led occupation of Iraq as he seeks re-election next month, is likely to be dismayed by the prospect of a Polish troop withdrawal.

His Democratic rival, John Kerry, who has accused Bush of launching an ill-considered war in Iraq, has recently closed the gap in opinion polls.

Poland sent 2,500 troops to Iraq last year in the wake of the US-led invasion and commands a multinational division of 6,000 soldiers in southern and central Iraq.

The issue has sparked internal divisions within the Polish government, with Prime Minister Marek Belka complaining that he had not been consulted over the defence minister's announcement on Monday of a pullout by the end of 2005.

Analysts in Warsaw said the ruling Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) party was trying to salvage its popularity ahead of elections next year, with opinion polls currently crediting it with only seven percent support.

"In the background there is the very weak position of the ruling party in Poland," Mateusz Falkowski of the Institute of Public Affairs think-tank told

Another factor was the US election, in which Kerry now seems to have a fighting chance of success.

"The Polish government is trying to moderate its position (over Iraq) among other reasons because there is a possibility that Kerry will become president of the United States," he said.

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