Poland's League of Polish Families (LPR) party, a member of the coalition government, wanted a national referendum on the participation of the country's soldiers in missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, the LPR said on Wednesday.

Speaking at a press conference, Andrzej Fedorowicz, a parliamentary member of the LPR, said his party had lodged a motion calling for a parliamentary debate.

The LPR believed that the Poles should say whether they are for the quickest possible withdrawal of Polish troops from Iraq and whether they are against the presence of Polish soldiers in Afghanistan, Fedorowicz was quoted by the PAP news agency as saying.

"We believe that the Poles should answer these questions in a referendum," he said.

Asked why the LPR was launching a campaign against the government, Fedorowicz said that his party was "a very loyal coalition partner," but it "did not agree in everything" with the other ruling parties.

The Polish government on Dec. 19 decided to prolong the mission in Iraq another year, until the end of 2007. This was approved by President Lech Kaczynski three days later.

Poland now has some 900 soldiers in Iraq. Its new contingent will be 1,200 strong, with 900 soldiers serving in Iraq and the remaining 300 staying in Poland.

Currently, more than 100 Polish soldiers serve in Afghanistan. Poland has pledged to send 1,000 troops to Afghanistan to bolster the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force next year.

Source: Xinhua