"Very soon, these groups will combine their efforts under a single jihad (holy war) banner, governed by a Shura (consultative) Council authorized" by religious scholars, the Al-Rai Al-Aam newspaper said citing sources "very close" to Iraqi "jihadi" groups.

The new grouping would command a total of "7,000 fighters spread all over Iraq," the paper said.

Representatives of the Sunni militant groups are currently visiting a number of Islamic countries to consult with leading clerics about their plans, it added.

The proponents of the new alliance plan to demand an end to sectarian attacks by Zarqawi's Unity and Holy War group, particularly against Iraq's Shiite majority, the paper said.

"If Zarqawi does not abandon his plans to instigate a sectarian rift, the groups will force him to do so even if that requires taking up arms against him," the paper quoted one of its sources as saying.

A document released by the US military and said to be authored by Zarqawi set out plans to spark civil war in Iraq by attacking Shiite targets.

The Jordanian-born Islamist is blamed for some of the deadiest attacks in Iraq in recent months and has a 25-million-dollar US bounty on his head.

Another Kuwaiti daily, al-Qabas, quoted Gulf intelligence sources as saying that Zarqawi's group had recently requested help in the form of "money and men" from unnamed Gulf groups.

The request was made after US and Iraqi forces managed to strike the group and cut its supply lines, the paper said.

It was the second report in recent days of moves by Iraqi militant groups to unite.

On Sunday, a statement posted on an Islamist website said a "unified command of the Mujahedeen" in Iraq had been formed as an umbrella for 10 groups, but its authenticity could not be independently verified.

Meanwhile, Poland will pull its troops out of Iraq by the end of 2005, when UN resolution 1546 endorsing the timetable for political transition in Iraq expires, Defence Minister Jerzy Szmajdzinski said yesterday.

"The final date (of our military presence in Iraq) should be that of the expiry of the UN Security Council resolution," in December 2005, the minister said in an interview with Polish public radio.

His comments marked the first time a Polish official has set a precise timetable concerning the withdrawal of Polish troops from Iraq.

Until now the Polish government had said it would reduce its military presence in Iraq in 2005.

Poland sent 2,500 troops to Iraq last year in the wake of the US-led invasion and heads up a multinational division of 6,000 soldiers, including 2,500 Poles, in south-central Iraq.