Defence Minister Arturo Parisi said on Friday that Italian troops would remain in Afghanistan until at least 2011, raising the hackles of pacifist elements in the governing coalition.
Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of a NATO summit in the Spanish port of Seville, Parisi said: "In 2011, a redefinition of our presence (in Afghanistan) will be possible, mainly in terms of support for reconstruction and economic and social development".
"This does not mean that the international community's commitments in Afghanistan will end with this deadline, but that starting from then, the type of commitment will be substantially reviewed," the minister said.
Parisi referred to the so-called Afghanistan Compact agreed in London in 2006 at the end of talks between the Afghan government, the United Nations and the international community.
The accord represents a five-year cooperation framework, establishing benchmarks for performance in the areas of security, governance and economic development.
One of the targets for 2011 is a tripling of the size of the Afghan Army, to 70,000.
Parisi stressed to reporters that any exit strategy for Afghanistan would depend on "the capability of the new Afghan state to take over all responsibility for security and public institutions".
Italy has some 1,900 troops in Afghanistan as part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) which began peacekeeping operations there in 2003.
Parisi's comments angered hard-leftists and pacifists in Premier Romano Prodi's centre-left governing coalition who are pushing for a troop pullout.
They accused Prodi and Parisi of failing to inform them of the 2011 deadline.
Three parties in Prodi's nine-strong alliance - the Communist Refoundation Party (PRC), the Italian Communists' Party (PDCI) and the Greens - argue that Afghanistan has become too dangerous for a peacekeeping mission.
Describing Parisi's statements as "provocative", PRC Senator Fosco Giannini said: "Parisi can stay in Afghanistan until 2011 - alone, hopefully without Italian soldiers and certainly without my vote".
PDCI chief Oliviero Diliberto went further, saying: "These are surprising and unacceptable comments from Parisi. Has the minister decided to bring the government down?"
Meanwhile, the centre-right opposition criticised the governing coalition for its divided stance, saying it was damaging Italy's international credibility.
The rightist National Alliance, the biggest ally of opposition chief Silvio Berlusconi, said that "this is a huge embarrassment. Relations between Italy and NATO are becoming increasingly strained over Afghanistan".
AFGHAN VOTE HURDLE FOR PRODI.
Prodi faces a tough test over Afghanistan later this month when a bill refinancing the mission must be approved by parliament.
While the premier holds a solid majority in the House, in the Senate he has a majority of just one seat, meaning that any desertions would make it very difficult to pass the Afghanistan bill.
A group of life senators could vote for the government and save the day as they have in the past, or some senators from the opposition ranks could step in to approve the measure.
But this would be embarrassing for the premier and could lead to calls for a new government and even possibly new elections.
Rebel pacifist senators have already threatened to vote against the legislation.
When the refinancing issue last came up in July, Prodi was forced to resort to a do-or-die confidence vote to prevent pacifists sinking the measure.
Afghanistan has seen a strong resurgence of attacks by Taliban Islamists whose government was toppled by US and allied Afghan forces in November 2001.
NATO is pressing its members to commit more troops to defeat the Taliban amid signs that the insurgency will intensify in coming months.
Tensions were sparked earlier this week after US Ambassador to Rome Ronald Spogli and five other foreign ambassadors wrote an open letter urging Italy not to withdraw from Afghanistan.
The letter, signed by the ambassadors from the United States, Britain, Canada, Australia, the Netherlands and Romania and published in the press last weekend, urged NATO allies to "increase our contribution for reconstruction and civil developments".
"We have to stay united. We have to share the responsibility for maintaining security in Afghanistan," it said.
It praised Italy's "fundamental" contribution to the peacekeeping and reconstruction effort in Afghanistan, going on to stress the critical phase that the country now faced.
Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema, who is also deputy premier, expressed "surprise and disapproval" at the letter, saying it "lends itself to being interpreted as inopportune interference".
The former premier added that decisions on the future of Italy's contingent in Afghanistan were the "exclusive concern of the government and parliament".
But D'Alema declared the incident closed on Thursday evening after talks with Spogli.
