No Italian police deployed to Syria amid 'uncertainty'

Rome, Feb 15 (IANS/AKI) Italy will not send police officers to Syria "as long as the political and military situation remains uncertain", Defence Minister Roberta Pinotti has said.

Italy has not received a request to deploy policemen to Syria although it had discussed with the US the idea of extending its police training mission in Iraq to the war-wracked country, she told Italian daily Corriere della Sera.

"But our position is clear: as long as the political and military situation remains uncertain, our decision remains to support the coalition in Iraq.

"We have the second largest number of security force members there after the US," Pinotti said.

Italy will cut its 1,500-strong military contingent in Iraq this year, drawing down at least 700 troops, Pinotti told a summit here on Tuesday.

Fifteen defence ministers from the US-led global coalition against the Islamic State jihadist group attended Tuesday's summit including US Defence Secretary James Mattis.

--IANS/AKI

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