Berlusconi mulls pullout in Afghanistan

ROME, Sept. 18 (UPI) -- Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi says his country's troops should leave Afghanistan quickly after six Italian soldiers died in a bombing in Kabul.

Berlusconi offered no schedule for a pullout of Italy's 2,800 troops, saying any withdrawal of Italian forces would be coordinated with allies, CNN reported Friday.

"We are all convinced that the best thing for all of them is to leave soon, to no longer have a presence there," the prime minister said Thursday while in Brussels, where NATO headquarters is located.

A car bomb killed six Italian paratroopers in Kabul Thursday. NATO reported 10 Afghan civilians also were killed in the blast.

Berlusconi clarified his comments Friday in Rome, saying a "transition strategy," not an exit strategy was needed in Afghanistan so that the Afghan government could assume more responsibility for the country's security, Italian news agency ANSA reported.

The goal of a transition strategy was to boost the Afghan government's "ability to guarantee security in the country" so NATO forces could begin reducing its military presence in the country.

Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said the time has come for a shift in the NATO mission so responsibility could be placed on the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, ANSA said.

"It is time to ask, not just to give," Frattini said. "It is time to ask those who govern Afghanistan: 'What is your strategy for the first 100 days? What are your objectives for the first six months? It is time to set deadlines."