Poland's foreign ministry on Sunday condemned an opposition member of parliament who said U.S. President-elect Barack Obama's victory was a triumph for al Qaeda.

"Someone regarded by the (American) Republican right as a crypto-communist has become the leader of the world's greatest power ... and al Qaeda are rubbing their hands with glee that the new president wants peace, not war," Artur Gorski of the opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party told parliament last week.

"The black messiah of the new left has crushed the Republican candidate John McCain, and America will soon pay a high price for this quirk of democracy," he added.

"Obama is an approaching catastrophe. This marks the end of white man's civilisation," he said in an address.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Jacek Paszkowski said normally he would not comment on remarks of MPs, but added: "In this case we feel obliged to express our disapproval of MP Gorski's address."

Paszkowski told news channel TNV24 that U.S. Ambassador to Poland Victor Ashe had been shocked by the remarks.

Representatives of all major parties in Poland's parliament condemned Gorski's views. Senior PiS official Joachim Brudzinski called Gorski's comments "absolutely scandalous" and said disciplinary steps would be taken against him.

Gorski later apologised, saying his comments were strictly political, not racist.

Like other Europeans, a majority of Poles favoured Obama over McCain, and Polish leaders have congratulated the him on his victory.