Poland's Iraq envoy recovering after Baghdad attack

WARSAW, Oct 7 (Reuters) Poland's ambassador to Iraq remains in an induced coma but his condition has improved slightly after he was wounded in a triple bomb attack in Baghdad on Wednesday, his doctor said today.

''Improvement has been noted in the functioning of Edward Pietrzyk's respiratory and circulatory systems as well as his overall vital parameters,'' Andrzej Krajewski told a news conference broadcast by public television.

''The patient's condition is still serious but not life-threatening,'' said Krajewski, who heads Poland's leading burns treatment centre in the northern town of Gryfice.

He said Pietrzyk, who was comatose under sedation and connected to a respirator, would probably require several more weeks of hospitalisation.

Pietrzyk suffered serious burns when roadside bombs ripped apart his three-vehicle convoy in the Iraqi capital in an attack in which one Polish secret service officer was killed and three others were wounded.

Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski vowed to maintain Poland's 1,000 troops in southern Iraq despite the attack. Poland is a staunch US ally.

Several diplomats have been killed by suspected al Qaeda militants in Baghdad since the invasion four years ago.

REUTERS JK BST1807