U.S. shield offer insufficient: Polish party source

By Gabriela Baczynska

WARSAW (Reuters) - The U.S. offer to Poland in exchange for the European country having parts of an anti-missile shield based on its territory is insufficient, a Polish ruling party source said on Thursday.

Warsaw said on Wednesday it received final U.S. terms for hosting the shield and now needed time to assess it.

"The U.S. proposal is insufficient," the source told Reuters under the condition of anonymity. "Today Prime Minister Donald Tusk will talk to American Vice-President Dick Cheney to see if this still can be changed."

Washington said on Wednesday it had already clinched a tentative deal with Warsaw on the base but that the pact still required final Polish approval.

The source said on Thursday Washington's proposed financial support for Poland's air defenses was much lower then Warsaw had expected.

The source added that Tusk's centre-right cabinet would issue an official statement on the U.S. offer on Friday morning.

Washington wants to place 10 ground-based interceptor rockets on Polish soil as part of global missile defenses it says will protect the United States and its European allies from "rouge states" like Iran.

The plan, which faces vehement opposition from Russia, also envisages a radar facility in the Czech Republic. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice is expected to sign a deal with the Czech government next week in Prague.

Rice may also travel to Warsaw if the Tusk government accepts the U.S. offer, diplomats say.

In exchange for hosting the rockets, Poland has demanded the United States boost Poland's outdated air defenses with billions of dollars' worth of help, such as Patriot-type missiles.

Moscow says the system would threat its national security.

Polish and Czech public opinion is widely against the project but Polish President Lech Kaczynski supports it strongly.

(Editing by Matthew Jones)