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Italy plans to begin withdrawing some of its troops from Iraq in September, Premier Silvio Berlusconi said Friday. Berlusconi, who was a strong supporter of President Bush on Iraq, sent 3,000 troops to the country after the ouster of Saddam Hussein to help rebuild the country. He had previously indicated he hoped a pullout could begin in September...read on

I doubt this has anything to do with the London bombing per se because many Italians have been upset over Iraq for some time. Couple that with the Giuliana Sgrena incident and one shouldn't be surprised by this development. They do have to look out for themselves and this incident can be used as a spring board to leave Iraq sooner than later. "The time has come to begin to think also about our house, and to use the same resources currently committed in Iraq to prevent and combat possible attacks on our territory."

Friday March 4, 2005 8:16 PM

ROME (AP) - Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said Friday that he has asked the U.S. ambassador for an explanation about the shooting death of an Italian intelligence officer in Iraq, shortly after an Italian hostage was freed from her Iraqi captors.

``Given that the fire came from an American source I called in the American ambassador,'' Berlusconi told reporters. ``I believe we must have an explanation for such a serious incident, for which someone must take the responsibility.''

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