NATO backs Polish "stabilization zone" in Iraq

NATO ambassadors agreed unanimously yesterday to provide Poland with the log istical support it sought in running a "stabilization zone" in Iraq. "The [N orth Atlantic] council has unanimously decided today to task NATO military a uthorities to provide advice as soon as possible on the Polish request for N ATO support," NATO Secretary-General George Robertson told reporters. The U. S.-led war in Iraq badly divided the 19-nation alliance, but member states a re keen to mend their frayed relations and are expected to respond to Poland 's call for logistical support. Washington has offered Poland leadership of a 7,000-strong multinational force to keep the peace in a quarter of Iraq, b etween Baghdad and Basra, to reward it for backing the campaign that deposed President Saddam Hussein. The Poles plan to hold a "troop-pledging" conferen ce, to be attended by senior military representatives, in Warsaw on Thursday and Friday where they aim to disclose the composition of their stabilization force for mid- and southern-Iraq. (Reuters) A.C.