Italy may keeps troops in Iraq longer
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-05-10 20:31

Italy's foreign minister said Tuesday that Italian troops will stay in Iraq through that country's scheduled elections in December, suggesting they may stay longer than the Italian premier had previously indicated.

Asked by reporters when Italy's 3,000-member contingent would return, Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini said the pullout could coincide with the final element of a U.N. resolution setting elections in December, but could also go a month or two later.

"The Iraqis tell us that security must be guaranteed at 100 percent," he said. "Security is the central concept from which decisions are made."

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