Berlusconi pressured to withdraw troops
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-04-28 08:50

A widely respected former Italian president said Wednesday that Premier Silvio Berlusconi would have no choice but to withdraw its troops from Iraq if U.S. soldiers are cleared in an investigation of the "friendly fire" slaying of an Italian intelligence agent.

If the joint U.S.-Italian inquiry "doesn't reach a recognition of guilt of the American troops, extraditing them to Italy or taking on the commitment to put them before American military justice, in my view, this would require" withdrawal, Francesco Cossiga was quoted as saying by the Italian news agency ANSA.

The ex-president's remarks were part of mounting pressure on Berlusconi to consider withdrawing the 3,000 troops as U.S. and Italian officials negotiated over whether American soldiers bear any blame for Nicola Calipari's death on March 4.

Italian Premier SIlvio Berlusconi gestures in the lower chamber in Rome,Wednesday, April 27, 2005.[AP]

Despite the growing anger over Berlusconi's military commitment in Iraq, the premier won approval for his new government in parliament Wednesday after making a stinging attack on his political foes.

The confidence vote in the Chamber of Deputies — easily won, 334-240, by the center-right coalition — followed Berlusconi's resignation last week in a tactical bid to strengthen his fractious coalition. The Senate, where he also has a majority, was due to vote Thursday.

The premier has put his government's prestige on the line with assurances to the nation that full light would be shed on the shooting. The war in Iraq is highly unpopular among the Italian people, who also oppose the deployment of Italian troops in Iraq to help reconstruction.

Italy has refused to sign off on a report by American investigators who are said to have concluded that the soldiers were properly doing their job when they fired at the agent's car as it approached a temporary checkpoint near Baghdad airport. Two Italian officials participated in the U.S.-led investigation.

Talks between the Italian and U.S. officials continued Wednesday, a day after Berlusconi sat down with Washington's ambassador to Italy to try to resolve the dispute.

Italian and U.S. officials attached to the Multi-National Force-Iraq in Baghdad were trying to negotiate agreement on a document that could resolve the impasse, U.S. officials said.

The final report isn't expected to be released before Friday, U.S. officials indicated. It is to be made public in Baghdad.

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