In an interview with the French Le Monde daily, the Italian Prime Minister Elect said that he will fulfill his election promise of withdrawing his country´s troops from Iraq.

Following the pullout, an Italian civil contingent will be sent to Iraq to help in the reconstruction of the infrastructure and institutions, asserted Prodi.

The also former president of the European Commission reiterated that he always opposed the war against Iraq and thought there were other ways to solve differences with Baghdad.

Last July, the Chamber of Deputies agreed to extend the deployment of the Italian troops for another six months, though the center-left opposition along with the communists voted against.

As legislative elections are getting closer and pressures increase, the Italian government announced a reduction of its troops and 2,600 Italian soldiers of the 3,200 initially deployed remain in Iraq since last January.