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Italy to start pulling troops out of Iraq in September
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| Contributor | Patrick |
| Last Edited | Patrick Mar 16, 2005 04:11pm |
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| Category | News |
| News Date | Wednesday, March 16, 2005 10:10:00 PM UTC0:0 |
| Description | Rome -- Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, one of President Bush's most ardent supporters in Iraq, signaled his intention Tuesday to withdraw Italian troops from the country beginning in September. That would make Italy the latest country to reduce or eliminate its military contingent in the U.S.-led force.
Following the March 4 killing of an Italian intelligence agent by U.S. troops near the Baghdad airport, Berlusconi has come under new public pressure to take a cue from other countries that are withdrawing their troops from Iraq.
Italy, with about 3,000 soldiers in the country, is the fourth-largest contributor of foreign military forces in Iraq after the United States, Britain and South Korea.
More than a dozen countries have pulled back troops over the last year. On Monday, 160 troops from the Netherlands arrived home as part of a phased Dutch withdrawal. On Tuesday, Ukraine welcomed back more than 130 members of its 1,650-person force and has said it would complete a pullout by October. Poland plans to remove a few hundred of its 1,700 soldiers this summer and the rest by early 2006.
Berlusconi's political coalition faces regional elections next month and legislative elections next year. He has suggested he will again head a ticket as candidate for prime minister. |
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