This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/europe/6501399.stm
The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
Previous version
1
Next version
Version 0 | Version 1 |
---|---|
Prodi backed in key Afghan vote | Prodi backed in key Afghan vote |
(about 1 hour later) | |
Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi's government has won a vote in the Senate to keep Italy's troops in Afghanistan. | |
The vote gives final approval to a measure that provides funding for all Italian missions abroad. | The vote gives final approval to a measure that provides funding for all Italian missions abroad. |
The government saw off a rebellion from some left-wing members of the ruling coalition, to repeat the victory it had already achieved in the lower house. | The government saw off a rebellion from some left-wing members of the ruling coalition, to repeat the victory it had already achieved in the lower house. |
Commentators had said that a defeat in the vote could have led to the collapse of Mr Prodi's fragile government. | |
In the event it was carried by 180 votes to two, with 132 abstentions, which in the Senate count as "No" votes. | In the event it was carried by 180 votes to two, with 132 abstentions, which in the Senate count as "No" votes. |
Opposition split | |
The parties on the far left of Mr Prodi's alliance want the 1,800 Italian troops currently deployed in Afghanistan to come home. | The parties on the far left of Mr Prodi's alliance want the 1,800 Italian troops currently deployed in Afghanistan to come home. |
In previous votes on Afghanistan, he has been propped up by the centre-right opposition led by Silvio Berlusconi, which supports the deployment. | |
But Mr Berlusconi has become more critical - notably of the way in which the government negotiated the release of an Italian journalist kidnapped in Afghanistan by the Taleban, a deal which saw five Taleban prisoners freed in exchange. | But Mr Berlusconi has become more critical - notably of the way in which the government negotiated the release of an Italian journalist kidnapped in Afghanistan by the Taleban, a deal which saw five Taleban prisoners freed in exchange. |
Italian troops will remain in Afghanistan for some time yet | |
Come the vote, the opposition split, with senators from Mr Berlusconi's party abstaining, but most of the Christian Democrat Party backing the government. | Come the vote, the opposition split, with senators from Mr Berlusconi's party abstaining, but most of the Christian Democrat Party backing the government. |
Italian President Giorgio Napolitano had issued an eleventh hour plea to all sides to reach agreement on an issue affecting national troops abroad. | |
The Italian troops form part of the Nato mission in Kabul and Herat, not the more dangerous south of the country. | |
Nato can now be reassured that Italy will remain part of the coalition for the time being, says the BBC's Christian Fraser in Rome. | |
And Mr Prodi lives to fight another day, though his seems to be a government that stumbles from one crisis to another, our correspondent adds. |
Previous version
1
Next version