"We hope that the elections in January will lead to a gradual normalisation of the situation in Iraq, and if this is the case Romanian troops could be withdrawn in June 2005," he said.

Iraqi voters are in January due to choose a national assembly, a parliament for the semi-autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan and 18 provincial councils, but there are fears that relentless violence could derail the process in large swathes of the country.

The Romanian soldiers are serving in the Polish-led multinational force in Iraq that operates in a region south of Baghdad.

The Romanian defence ministry said Sunday one of its soldiers had suffered light wounds in a rocket attack the day before on a US base in Baghdad.

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