Berlusconi under fire over Iraq

Berlusconi said earlier this week that Italy could start gradually pulling out its 3,000-strong contingent in Iraq starting in September, if security conditions allowed.

Bush said at a press conference in Washington, "He wanted me to know there was no change in his policy that any withdrawals would be done in consultation with allies."

He specified Wednesday that he wasn't setting a fixed date but just expressing a hope, and insisted his alliance with the United States remained solid.

Public opinion in Italy is strongly against the war and Italy's involvement, and the premier has been under increasing pressure to pull out the troops since the March 4 killing in Baghdad of an Italian intelligence agent who was escorting a recently released hostage to freedom. The agent was killed by U.S. troops, who mistakenly opened fire on his vehicle.

Berlusconi under fire over Iraq

ROME, Italy (AP) -- Premier Silvio Berlusconi came under fire Thursday, a day after he clarified his announcement that Italian troops could pull out of Iraq in September, saying the possible date was no more than a "hope."

Berlusconi said earlier this week that Italy could start gradually pulling out its 3,000-strong contingent in Iraq starting in September, if security conditions allowed.

He specified Wednesday that he wasn't setting a fixed date but just expressing a hope, and insisted his alliance with the United States remained solid.

"In a serious country, heads of government cannot lend themselves to ambiguous announcements on issues that touch the life and death of so many human beings," leading analyst Franco Venturini wrote in Thursday's edition of the newspaper Corriere della Sera.

"From these self-serving calculations, a country's foreign policy can only come out damaged in its current and future credibility," he said.

Some analysts have said that Berlusconi's remarks were made with an eye on key regional elections at the beginning of April, as well as on general elections scheduled for next year.

Public opinion in Italy is strongly against the war and Italy's involvement, and the premier has been under increasing pressure to pull out the troops since the March 4 killing in Baghdad of an Italian intelligence agent who was escorting a recently released hostage to freedom. The agent was killed by U.S. troops, who mistakenly opened fire on his vehicle.

The opposition demanded that Berlusconi come to parliament to better explain Italy's position.

"There's total confusion and Berlusconi is just doing propaganda," center-left leader Piero Fassino was quoted as saying in the daily La Repubblica on Thursday. "But all this is unworthy of a civilized country."

Berlusconi's first announcement on a possible conditional date came Tuesday evening during Italy's most popular political talk show and surprised many -- even some of his close political allies -- according to Italian media.

On the show, he cited public opinion and said he had spoken about the situation with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, another of Bush's close allies in Iraq.

The premier then wrote a letter to a conservative paper his family partially owns in which he said: "One can start saying, 'Mission accomplished,"' and, "Italy can start discussing with Baghdad authorities and coalition allies the possibility of a gradual withdrawal."

In a phone conversation with U.S. President George W. Bush on Wednesday, Berlusconi stressed any decision would depend on security conditions in Iraq and would be discussed with allies.

Bush said at a press conference in Washington, "He wanted me to know there was no change in his policy that any withdrawals would be done in consultation with allies." In London, Blair insisted that "neither the Italian government nor ourselves have set some deadline for withdrawal."

On Wednesday evening, Berlusconi stressed that a possible withdrawal would not be unilateral and insisted he was only expressing a desire.

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/03/17/italy.iraq.ap/