Italy to press ahead with partial Iraq pull-out (announced today)

[Gloria]

http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.html?siteSect=143&sid=5930782&cKey=1120841438000
Friday 08.07.2005, CET 20:33

July 8, 2005 6:50 PM

Italy to press ahead with partial Iraq pull-out

GLENEAGLES, Scotland (Reuters) - Italy will start to pull its troops out of Iraq as planned in September and will not hasten the withdrawal because of fresh terror threats, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said on Friday.

Speaking at the end of a summit of world leaders, Berlusconi said Italy was a prime target for Islamist extremists thanks partly to its troop deployment in Iraq.

But he shrugged off calls from back home, including from within his own government, to speed up the troop pullout following the deadly bomb attacks in London on Thursday. "We have to fulfil our commitments and cannot leave the job half done," Berlusconi told a news conference.

"As far as our troop withdrawal goes, the situation has not changed. We will begin, as I have already announced, a partial withdrawal of around 300 troops in September," he added.

Italy has some 3,000 troops in Iraq, the fourth largest foreign contingent there after the United States, Britain and South Korea.

MORE

AP Version:: USA Today edited this story, Seattle P-I seems to have the full version.....
http://www.canada.com/news/world/story.html?id=9da92cf5-ca10-4f49-ae79-a64cf0e56eb2

Italy to begin withdrawing troops from Iraq in September, Berlusconi says

Alessandra Rizzo
Canadian Press

Friday, July 08, 2005

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi wipes his eye during a final media conference afte the G8 Summit at Gleneagles in Auchterarder, Scotland, Friday. (AP/Virginia Mayo)
ADVERTISEMENT
Click here to find out more!

GLENEAGLES, Scotland (AP) - Italy plans to begin withdrawing some of its troops from Iraq in September, Premier Silvio Berlusconi said Friday.

Berlusconi, who was a strong supporter of President George W. Bush on Iraq, sent 3,000 troops to the country after the ouster of Saddam Hussein to help rebuild the country. He had previously indicated he hoped a pullout could begin in September.

"We will begin withdrawing 300 men in the month of September," Berlusconi said at the G8 summit in Gleneagles, Scotland. But he added the decision would depend on security conditions on the ground and could change.

In recent months, Italian officials have gone back and forth on when a withdrawal might begin. Berlusconi said September was a possibility, but Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini then talked of early 2006.

MORE

[Moderator]

1. Duplicate

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=1612723