(10 Aug 2004) SHOTLIST
1. US President George W. Bush and Polish Prime Minister Marek Belka
2. Media cutaway
3. SOUNDBITE (English) George W. Bush, US President
"Our troops were engaged against Sadr's militia and so were the Iraqis (troops) and it appears that we are making pretty good progress at stabilising Najaf, but Prime Minister Allawi is now in charge of the country and he is a strong leader that cares deeply about the aspirations of his people and he is someone we are working with."
4. Wide of Oval Office
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Marek Belka, Polish Prime Minister
"This is not a typical military operation, this is stabilisation in all senses of the word."
6. Two shots Bush and Belka
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Marek Belka, Polish Prime Minister
"We didn't discuss dates, (or) numbers. What we discussed was the way the situation in Iraq develops, how the political calendar, how the political process is going on and how it shapes the character and size of our presence in this country."
8. Bush cutaway
9. Wide shot Bush and Belka
10. Close up them shaking hands
STORYLINE:
Facing pressure to withdraw his troops, Poland's prime minister told President George W. Bush on Monday that "no one wants to stay in Iraq forever," as Polish-led forces turned over control of two provinces to US Marines because of the worsening violence in Najaf.
Bush, who met Prime Minister Marek Belka in the Oval Office, said the Poles "have been great allies" in Iraq and said their troops have performed "brilliantly".
Belka came to Washington for talks with the president and US Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld about transferring more military duties to Iraqis in the Polish-led zone in the wake of withdrawals by Spain and other countries.
Public opinion polls show that Poles overwhelmingly want to bring their troops home.
In Iraq, the Polish-led multinational force returned control for Najaf and Qadisiyah provinces to US troops only 10 days after assuming responsibility.
The change was because of growing violence in Najaf, where US troops are battling militias loyal to Muqtada al-Sadr, a radical Shiite cleric who vowed to fight to the death.
Talking about the fighting against al-Sadr, Bush said the United States was acting in support of Iraq's interim prime minister, Ayad Allawi.
Poland has led the multinational force in Iraq since its inception after the end of the war.
It once was a 23-nation force of 9,500 troops responsible for south-central Iraq but has dwindled to 6,200 troops from 16 countries after several pulled out, most notably Spain, which withdrew its 1,300 soldiers after the election of a new government this spring.
Poland has stressed it will not abandon its role leading the force, even though it is unpopular at home, but has said it would like to reduce its troops from 2,400 to between 1,000 and 1,500 and put more of the burden on Iraqi forces by early next year.
Belka said he did not talk with Bush about troops numbers or withdrawal dates and stressed their mission in Iraq was one of stabilisation.
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