ROME, Italy (AP) - Opposition Leader Romano Prodi pledged in remarks published yesterday that if he's elected premier next year he will pull Italy's troops out of Iraq, prompting Premier Silvio Berlusconi to contend that such a promise would invite guerrilla attacks against the soldiers.

PRODI. troops will be pulled out as an occupation contingent

Italians have widely opposed the conservative government's dispatching troops to Iraq to help with reconstruction in the wake of Saddam Hussein's ouster.

Italian newspapers yesterday quoted Prodi, a former centre-left premier expected to challenge Berlusconi next year for the premiership, as saying: "If the centre-left wins the government, the Italian troops will be pulled out as an occupation contingent."

Berlusconi contended in comments to journalists yesterday that his rival was inviting attacks on the soldiers.

"When he defines our troops as occupation troops in Nasiriyah, Prodi that way justifies and motivates guerrilla attacks on our soldiers," the Italian news agency ANSA quoted Berlusconi as saying.

Despite widespread public opposition, Berlusconi has staunchly backed the US in the run-up to the war and the later deployment of Italian troops.

Under increasing pressure to bring the troops home, Berlusconi has said the soldiers could start coming back late this year if the entire coalition agrees to that, and if security conditions in Iraq permit their departure.

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