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http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow.asp?art_id=22779014 The Times of India September 20, 2002 Italy to send 1,000 troops to Afghanistan -The minister said Rome had been sent an official request by the Pentagon in the last few days, and that US President George Bush and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi had discussed the issue when they met last Saturday at the presidential retreat near Washington. -Italy had deployed 7,000 soldiers as part of a multinational peace force in the Balkans, so the US could pull its forces from that region to concentrate on the war in Afghanistan. [Italian troops were ordered to the Balkans to free up US troops for the war in Afghanistan; now they'll be sent to Afghanistan to free up US troops for war against Iraq. And beyond.] ROME (AFP): Italy will send 1,000 soldiers to Afghanistan in March at Washington's request to help track al-Qaeda fighters in the mountainous border area near Pakistan, Italian Defense Minister Antonio Martino said on Friday. "The United States asked us, along with other countries, to replace them in Afghanistan," he said in an interview in the Corriere della Sera daily. "Our soldiers should leave during the month of March." The minister said Rome had been sent an official request by the Pentagon in the last few days, and that US President George Bush and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi had discussed the issue when they met last Saturday at the presidential retreat near Washington. "We were asked to send 1,000 soldiers and the Pentagon specified it wanted troops trained for the mountains," Martino said. He stressed that the fall of the hardline Islamic Taliban regime in Kabul did not mean the end of the US-led global anti-terrorism campaign 'Enduring Freedom'. "The mission continues in the eastern part of the country, in the border area with Pakistan," he said. The defense minister said Italy would have no trouble meeting the US request since it was about to reassess the distribution of troops in the Balkans. Italy had deployed 7,000 soldiers as part of a multinational peace force in the Balkans, so the US could pull its forces from that region to concentrate on the war in Afghanistan. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Finance - Get real-time stock quotes http://finance.yahoo.com --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [email protected] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.bacIlu Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
