Italy: Italy's prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has announced he will begin withdrawing his country's troops from Iraq in September under pressure from public opinion.
"I've spoken to [Tony] Blair about this," he told a TV interviewer yesterday. "We've got to construct a precise exit strategy. Public opinion expects it and we shall be talking about it soon."
Mr Berlusconi's comments about a precise exit strategy were "an aspiration" or "political guesswork", they added. Mr Berlusconi, who is among US president George Bush's closest allies, has been under huge domestic pressure over Italy's staunch support for US policy in Iraq. Early next month he faces a test of electoral strength and in recent weeks he has felt the full force of Italians' misgivings.
On March 4th a senior intelligence officer, Nicola Calipari, was killed by US troops in Baghdad after rescuing an Italian hostage. His death united right and left in appalled condemnation, with thousands of Italians turning out to pay their respects to the dead agent during a lying in state.
Mr Berlusconi dropped his bombshell last night hours after Italy's lower house of parliament, in which the prime minister's supporters have an outright majority, approved funding for its contingent in Iraq until the end of June.
Italian officials had already indicated that troops would be withdrawn as soon as it was clear that Iraq could handle its own security. But Mr Berlusconi went much further than before in defining the outlines of a timetable. He said: "A progressive reduction of the presence of our soldiers will start from September." He added that the phase-out would take place "in agreement with our allies".
With 3,000 troops, Italy is one of the biggest contributors to the US-led coalition. Yesterday saw Italy's death toll reach 21 when it was announced that a soldier had accidentally shot and killed himself during target practice.
The announcement comes as the Iraqi assembly, elected on January 30th, meets today for the first time. But the Shias and Kurds who make up the bulk of the 275-member parliament have so far failed to reach agreement on the formation of a coalition government.