Italy to withdraw troops from Iraq

BBC story:

"Italy 'to pull troops from Iraq'

Berlusconi said he was responding to public opinion
Italy is to begin withdrawing its troops from Iraq in September 2005, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has said.
He told Rai state television the pullout would take place "in agreement with our allies".

Italy has 3,000 troops in Iraq - the fourth largest foreign contingent.

Domestic opposition to Italy's involvement in Iraq intensified after the killing of an Italian agent by US troops in Baghdad earlier this month.

The announcement came as Italy's lower house of parliament backed a recent Senate vote to extend the country's military presence in Iraq beyond June.

'Progressive reduction'

Mr Berlusconi has been one of US President George W Bush's staunchest allies in the US-led war in Iraq.

Main international troops in Iraq
US: 150,000
UK: 8,000
South Korea: 3,600
Italy: 3,085
Poland: 1,700
Ukraine: 1,600
Georgia: 898
Romania: 730
Japan: 550
Denmark: 496
Bulgaria: 450
Australia: 400 (We are doubling it)
Source: Global Security
But, he said, after speaking to UK Prime Minister Tony Blair he concluded that public opinion in both countries favoured a troop withdrawal.

"In September we will begin a progressive reduction of the number of our soldiers in Iraq.

"I spoke to Tony Blair about it, and public opinion in our countries is expecting this decision," he told Rai.

He said the exact numbers would depend on the Iraqi government's ability to deal with security.

Relations between the United States and Italy were severely strained after secret service agent Nicola Calipari was shot dead by American troops in Baghdad on 4 March.

Mr Berlusconi said the US must accept responsibility for the shooting, which is being investigated by the US military.

Also on Tuesday, two other members of the US-led coalition in Iraq - the Netherlands and Ukraine - began a phased withdrawal from the country."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4352259.stm


Analysis piece on coalition:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4350573.stm

I reckon that Mr Berlusconi's announcement is no great surprise. His eager support of Mr Bush's efforts in Iraq did not sit well with a lot of folks in Italy and the killing of their agent by American soldiers put the PM's future political career in jeopardy.
The line in Mr Berlusconi's comments (from the BBC, as cited by dlowan) that caught my eye was: "I spoke to Tony Blair about it, and public opinion in our countries is expecting this decision."