Italy Hastens Troop Withdrawal

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Italy Hastens Troop Withdrawal

From correspondents in Rome

August 13, 2005

ITALY, a month ahead of schedule, has started reducing its presence in Iraq by drawing down the first 130 forces in a planned 300-troop withdrawal, a Rome-based military source said today.

The source, who declined to be named, said the decision to bring forward the September start date of the partial troop reduction was logistical and financial – and not political.

The 130 Marines had finished their roughly 4-month tour-of-duty earlier in August, and the military opted against a costly process of replacing them for a brief one-month stint.

"It was decided not to replace them just for one month, since the reduction of around 300 men was planned starting in September," the source said.

Italy has some 3,000 troops in Iraq, the fourth largest foreign contingent there after the United States, Britain and South Korea.