Defense Minister tries to convince Deputies over financing troops in Iraq

The Sejm Defense Commission is demanding that the Polish mission in Iraq should be financed from money outside the Defense Ministry and they have sent a desideratum concerning the issue to the Prime Minister. They did this, despite the fact that Defense Minister Janusz Zemke tried to convince the Deputies that there was enough money for the mission in 2004. In 2003, Poland will spend zł. 147 million on its troops in Iraq. Next year, this sum will increase to zł. 308 million, of which zł. 190 million will be used to cover the soldiers salaries. Zemke told the Deputies that the mission consumes a mere 2% of his ministry's budget. "There will be enough money if the current number of troops, amounting to 2,500, will not be increased," stressed Zemke. However, Deputies claim that the army is having difficulty covering previously planned expenditures without adding new ones. (Gazeta Wyborcza, p. 6) M.M.