http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/20/in...e/20italy.html
Italy to Withdraw Its Troops From Iraq by End of the Year
By IAN FISHER
Published: January 20, 2006
ROME, Jan. 19 - Italy will withdraw its nearly 3,000 troops from Iraq by the year's end, the defense minister said on Thursday. The announcement came during a fiercely fought election campaign in a nation where the presence of Italian troops in Iraq is not popular.
"This is not a retreat, a word that is not part of our vocabulary," the defense minister, Antonio Martino, told a parliamentary commission. Rather, he said, it is a "dignified and just return."
It was the first formal announcement of Italy's plans for its troops in Iraq, though the center-right government of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi signaled the move months ago to Italy's voters and to the Bush administration in Washington. Mr. Berlusconi is trailing in opinion polls, and the decision would seem to ease some pressure from a particularly sensitive issue.
Italy reduced the number of its troops in Iraq by 300 last year, and Mr. Martino said another 300 would leave the area they patrol around the southern city of Nasiriya by the end of January.
He said 1,000 more troops would leave Iraq by June, before the final withdrawal of the Italian force at the end of year. By then, he said, "the mission will be considered over and accomplished."
Polls indicate that most Italians oppose the presence of their troops in Iraq, because of general opposition to the war and the fear that it makes Italy more vulnerable to a terrorist attack. The center-left opposition, led by former Prime Minister Romano Prodi, strongly opposes Italy's involvement in Iraq, though its leaders have said they would not endanger stability in the region by pulling troops out immediately.
Italy has the fourth-largest contingent of troops in Iraq. While it is not large in numbers, the Bush administration, eager to demonstrate that the effort in Iraq is a shared burden among allies, reacted with some anger last year when Mr. Berlusconi first broached the possibility of withdrawing his troops.
On Thursday, however, the White House called Italy's announcement "an indication of progress" that Iraqi troops were increasingly able to take over the running of the country.
"Italy is doing this all in close consultation with coalition forces," Scott McClellan, the White House spokesman, said in Washington.
In previous public discussions about a withdrawal of troops, Mr. Berlusconi and other Italian officials were careful to hedge their options, saying that nothing would happen without approval of the United States, Iraq and other allies. In his announcement on Thursday, Mr. Martino said the withdrawal was in accord with the plans of the United Nations, NATO and Iraq.
Mr. Martino said it was possible that Italian personnel, including soldiers, would remain in Iraq after the end of the year, though only as part of a civilian reconstruction team.
riassumendo come so far io dice che in sostanza è solo una mossa pre elettorale
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