Italy to withdraw troops from Iraq

ITALY is to start withdrawing its troops from Iraq, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi announced last night.

“We will begin to reduce our contingent even before the end of the year, starting in September, in agreement with our allies,” he said.

Mr Berlusconi’s government has dispatched some 3,000 troops to Iraq despite strong opposition at home.

It is the fourth largest foreign contingent there after US, British and South Korean forces.

Earlier yesterday, Bulgaria’s president said his country should withdraw its 450 troops from Iraq by the end of this year after a Bulgarian soldier was accidentally killed by US forces. A final decision is expected by the end of the month.

The Dutch government, defying pressure from Washington, has announced it will pull its troops from Iraq by mid-April, while Poland is looking to withdraw its forces by the end of the year.

Just hours before Berlusconi announced Italy’s partial withdrawal, an Italian solider died in Iraq during a target-shooting exercise. Some 21 Italian soldiers and five civilians have died in Iraq.

Meanwhile, Kurdish and Shi’ite leaders agreed to convene Iraq’s new parliament today even if they fail to complete a deal to form a coalition government as three car bombs exploded in Baghdad, killing at least five people, police said.

Shi’ite officials said they also agreed to reach out to the country’s Sunni Arab community to name the parliament speaker for the 275-member National Assembly that is to convene for the first time since the January 30 elections.

A car bomb targeting a US military convoy exploded on a road about 500 metres from the main avenue leading to Baghdad’s international airport, police captain Thamir Talib said. Four civilians were killed and seven were wounded, including two police officers, he said.

Witnesses said some US troops also were wounded, although that was not confirmed by US officials. When US forces arrived to evacuate them, another car bomb exploded, wounding more troops.

Another suicide car bomb exploded in north-east Baghdad, killing one child and wounding at least four people, including a police officer. The bomber was trying to hit traffic police but crashed into a tree.

The Shi’ite clergy-backed United Iraqi Alliance and a Kurdish coalition, which won the two biggest blocks of seats in January’s landmark elections, agreed last week to form a coalition government with Islamic Dawa Party leader Ibrahim al-Jaafari as prime minister. In return, Jalal Talabani will become Iraq’s first Kurdish president.