TONY BLAIR appeared to be at odds with Silvio Berlusconi and George Bush, allies in the war against Saddam Hussein, when he sought to play down the impact of Italy’s decision to withdraw its troops from Iraq yesterday.

Mr Blair said that Britain and Italy remained in agreement over the need to maintain troops in Iraq. He told the Commons: “Their position is exactly the same as ours . . . We have always said we should leave as soon as possible once the Iraqi forces are in the position where they are capable of dealing with their own security.”

He went on to say that an announcement by Signor Berlusconi, the Italian Prime Minister, that Italy’s 3,000 troops in Iraq would start to be withdrawn from September, had been misinterpreted. “Neither the Italian Government nor ourselves have set some deadline for withdrawal,” Mr Blair said.

However, Signor Berlusconi made it clear that he had discussed his withdrawal plans with Mr Blair, and said: “There has been no misunderstanding with Blair.”

Yesterday Signor Berlusconi phoned President Bush to inform him of the decision.

Military sources in Iraq said that there had been no prior consultation with coalition partners about Italy’s proposed withdrawal programme; and British sources said that there was no intention at this stage of following Italy’s line.

Signor Berlusconi’s announcement on Tuesday evening was seized on yesterday by the terrorist group in Iraq that is led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian linked to al-Qaeda. It claimed that the announcement in Rome meant the jihad (holy war) had “started to bear fruit”.

In a statement on the internet, the group claimed that the Italians had been “humbled” by the insurgency in Iraq and then gave warning to Rome: “The longer Italy stays in Iraq, the greater will be its losses.”

Signor Berlusconi, presumably aware of the potential repercussions of his announcement, telephoned President Bush in Washington to reassure him that Italy was not about to take all its troops out of Iraq.

It would be a phased programme and would be dependent on Iraqi forces being able to cope without them, he said.

Mr Bush told a press conference: “He wanted me to know that there was no change in his policy, that in fact any withdrawals would be done in consultation with allies and would be done depending upon the ability of the Iraqis to defend themselves,” he said.

He said he understood that coalition partners would want to leave Iraq when they could. “Countries will be anxious to get out when Iraqis have the capacity to defend themselves and that is the position of the United States,” he said.

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