Help offered

Poland's former Communists offered yesterday to help the government hold on to power in exchange for early elections and concessions on economic policy, Reuter reports from Warsaw.

Aleksander Kwasniewski, leader of the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) of former Communists, spelt out terms for a deal to back the minority coalition led by the Prime Minister, Hanna Suchocka, in a confidence vote on Thursday. Mr Kwasniewski offered to meet the government for talks and said the SLD was ready to support the coalition in the vote if Ms Suchocka agreed to hold a general election next spring and accepted a series of economic policy changes.