Prodi pleit voor terugtrekking Italiaanse troepen uit Irak (en)

In a sign that he has more than one eye on Italian domestic politics, European Commission President Romano Prodi has pledged to withdraw Italian troops from Iraq if his centre-left coalition is elected.

In a letter to Italian daily Corriere della Sera, Mr Prodi wrote, "In its current form, the occupation [of Iraq] is the pursuit of an unjustified and illegitimate war which is visibly not succeeding in restoring peace and security in Iraq".

He pledged to withdraw the 3,000 Italian troops from Iraq if his centre-left coalition defeats Silvio Berlusconi's governing party in the 2006 elections.

"The problem would be to decide whether to continue or interrupt the participation in this war, [and] I have no hesitation in saying that the choice would be ending the intervention", he wrote.

As in most European countries, Italy's decision to send troops to Iraq was deeply unpopular, but Mr Berlusconi has reaffirmed Italy's commitment to the US-led occupation until the end of June at least, according to the Associated Press.

Spain's new leader, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, has pledged to remove Spanish troops from Iraq before 30 June if the UN is not afforded a bigger role in the country.