Italy seeks to drop "peace" from its definition of Afghan mission

Aug 10, 2009, 10:48 GMT

Rome - Italy's government aims to scrap the definition of 'peace mission' currently used for its involvement in Afghanistan amid concerns about the role of civilian judicial magistrates in restricting Italian military operations, a top official said Monday.

The move - to be initiated through parliament - aims to provide greater protection to some 3,000 Italian troops deployed in Afghanistan, Italian Defence Minister Ignazio La Russa told the daily Corriere della Sera.

Italy's post-World War II constitution places stringent limits on the country's military engagements, making it difficult for the government to apply a 'military war code' which would allow defence authorities to handle investigations about foreign operations.

The government is seeking to introduce a new type of military code, specifically for missions abroad, that would be 'neither of peace nor of war,' La Russa said.

La Russa said there was an inadequacy in the 'military peace code' currently governing Italy's mission in Afghanistan.

He cited the order by Italian magistrates investigating recent attacks on Italian troops by suspected Taliban militants to confiscate 11 armoured cars destined for Afghanistan.

La Russa appealed to the magistrates to quickly return to the military the Lince (Lynx)) vehicles, which were badly needed.

'These Lince continue to save the lives of many soldiers. As recently as Saturday a bomb blew up one, but nobody was injured,' he told the paper.

Such seizures by the Italian civilian judiciary would terminate under a new code for Italy's military missions abroad being drafted by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's conservative government, La Russa said.

Fifteen Italian soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since Italy began deploying troops in 2001 in the wake of the US-led invasion of the country that toppled the Taliban regime.

The latest fatality happened in July when a 25-year-old Italian paratrooper was killed in a roadside bomb attack, near Farah, in southwestern Afghanistan.

The attack prompted leaders from the Northern League party, the junior coalition partner in Berlusconi's government, to call for the withdrawal of Italian troops in Afghanistan.

However, Berlusconi has repeatedly assured US President Barack Obama of Italy's commitment to the West's military mission in Afghanistan where US troops have been involved in most of the fighting and have suffered the greatest losses.