Italian Prime Minister Prodi (file photo) (AFP)
May 18, 2006 -- Italy's newly elected prime minister, Romano Prodi, has called the war in Iraq a "grave mistake."
In an address to the Italian Senate on May 18, Prodi also said he would ask parliament for its backing to withdraw Italian troops from Iraq. He did not, however, give any dates.
Former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi had said Italy's some 3,000 troops would return home by the end of this year.
(Reuters, AP)