Berlusconi: Italy to Withdraw from Afghanistan

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, at today's European Union summit in Brussels, announces plans to withdraw Italy's 3,100 troops from Afghanistan.

At his arrival to the extraordinary European summit tonight in Brussels, Silvio Berlusconi, Italian Prime Minister, declared that Italy wants to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan "as soon as possible" but will not take the decision unilaterally.

We are all anxious and hopeful to bring our boys home as soon as possible, Berlusconi told reporters after six Italian troops were killed by a suicide car bomber in Kabul.

We are all convinced that it's better for everyone to leave Afghanistan soon, he added.

He said Italy was already planning a "strong reduction" in its approximately 3,100 troops in Afghanistan, and would proceed in that direction.

EUXTV