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ROME, April 6 (Xinhuanet) -- Fifteen supporters of Iraq's Shiite Muslim leader Moqtada Sadr were killed and eleven Italian soldiersslightly wounded when the two sides clashed early Tuesday in the southern Iraqi town of Nassiriya, Italian media reported. The clashes occurred when Italian soldiers were trying to disperse several hundred Shiites blocking bridges in the town, about 375 km south of Baghdad, the reports said. The reports quoted military sources as saying that three soldiers suffered minor leg wounds in the gunfire while the others received bruises and light cuts from shrapnel. The reports said the situation in Nassiriya remained...

BRUSSELS, April 6 (Reuters) - Italy is not contemplating a withdrawal of its 3,000 troops in Iraq but neither does it believe reinforcements are necessary, Defence Minister Antonio Martino said on Tuesday. Martino, speaking to reporters ahead of a meeting with his European Union counterparts, did not refer to Tuesday's clashes with Shi'ite militiamen in the southern Iraqi town of Nassiriya in which at least 11 Italians were wounded. "No, we don't even contemplate the possibility," he said, when asked if Italian forces could be pulled out of Iraq. Asked if Italy, like the U.S. military, was looking at making...

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff thanked the new Italian chief of defense at the Pentagon today for Italy's staunch and ongoing support for the war on terror. Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers hosted the visit by Italian Adm. Giampaolo Di Paola, who traveled to Washington to attend a defense aerospace industry seminar this week. Di Paola, Italy's former national armaments director, assumed his new position March 9. Myers noted that Italy has been a strong supporter in the war on terror, with significant contributions to operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, the Balkans and Africa. "The war on...

<p>ROME -- Thanking Italy for its help in Iraq despite widespread public opposition to the war, Vice President Dick Cheney sought to strengthen trans-Atlantic relations yesterday and allay the fears of Europeans who worry about U.S. world dominance.</p> <p>He urged free nations to fight the spread of the world's most dangerous weapons, but didn't mention claims by David Kay, the outgoing chief U.S. weapons inspector in Iraq, that Saddam Hussein had no weapons of mass destruction at the time of the U.S.-led invasion.</p>

ROME, Dec. 4 — Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said Wednesday night in an interview here that all European countries should rally to American efforts in Iraq and described the intervention there as an important, necessary example of the West exporting freedom. Mr. Berlusconi, who holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, said there were many ways in which Western countries could and should promote their values, including placing economic sanctions on totalitarian governments. But, the prime minister added, the "community of democracies" must be prepared to use force in certain cases, as it did in Iraq. He said such...

<p>Italian officials said Wednesday an attack on Italian military police headquarters in Nasiriya that killed at least 18 Italians and eight Iraqis earlier in the day would not deter their country's commitment to helping form a new Iraqi government.</p> <p>Officials said 12 of the dead were Italian Carabinieri, or military police, four were other soldiers and two were Italian civilians filming a documentary on the Italian military in Iraq.</p>

The Western White House in Crawford, Texas was recently visited by Silvio Berlusconi, Prime Minister of Italy. Signore Silvio, the best export from that country since foccachio, has the distinction of being the most despised European in Europe. Previous holders of the title usually spring from the British Isles; most recently, Lady Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair. Given the fact that Mrs. Thatcher is merely a woman and Mr. Blair merely a poodle and that the rest of Europe looks down its collective nose at all non-continentals, it is a mighty achievement indeed. After long being deluged by his enemies...