19 May 2004	Wednesday	28 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1425

ROME, May 18: Italy and Poland, staunch US allies over Iraq and major troop contributors, urged Washington on Tuesday to ensure Iraqis are given real power after the planned handover of sovereignty on June 30.

Ukraine, another leading contributor to US-led forces in Iraq, said its parliament would vote on Wednesday on whether the former Soviet republic should withdraw its soldiers after opposition parties won a ballot putting the issue on the agenda.

The stands adopted by Italy, Poland and Ukraine are likely to put fresh pressure on US President George W. Bush, coming only a day after Britain said it planned to step up training of Iraqi forces to allow its troops to leave as soon as feasible.

"We want to be sure that there will be a clear breakthrough in the Iraqi situation that will truly give sovereignty," Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi told Rete 4 television as he travelled to the United States for talks with Bush.

Berlusconi, under pressure at home to distance himself from Bush's policies on Iraq, joined Poland in signalling support for greater United Nations involvement as a way of ensuring full sovereignty for the new Iraqi authorities after June 30.

The Italian leader, also due to meet UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan during his trip, said he backed UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi's plans for an interim Iraqi government because they should lead to elections "as soon as possible".

Berlusconi called for "just and exemplary sentences" for any US soldiers found guilty of involvement in the Iraqi prison abuse scandal. "I am deeply pained by the events that have produced images so different from what should be the image of those entrusted with freedom and democracy," said Berlusconi, whose country has the second largest number of troops in Iraq backing US forces.

Berlusconi, speaking by telephone from his plane, reiterated his determination to keep Italy's 2,700 soldiers in Iraq. But the combat death of an Italian soldier this week on top of shock in Italy over the abuse of Iraqi prisoners in US-controlled jails has forced Berlusconi to rethink his unswerving support for Washington.

The opposition has stepped up calls for a troop withdrawal, while members of Berlusconi's centre-right coalition have urged him to use his US visit to voice concern over events in Iraq.

Polish Prime Minister Marek Belka said the US-appointed Iraqi Governing Council had "lost its legitimacy" and called on Washington to ensure Iraqis were given full sovereignty.

"We are going to put pressure on our allies for the political process to be faster and bolder," Belka told an international media conference. Belka, a former economic supremo in the US-led occupation administration in Baghdad, said Poland was committed to keeping its 2,400 troops in Iraq until at least early next year.

UKRAINE: In Kiev, a slim majority of 230 out of 450 deputies in the Ukrainian parliament backed the decision to hold a vote on Wednesday on whether to withdraw the country's 1,600 troops.

President Leonid Kuchma, who has the final say, has vowed to keep the troops in Iraq "until the end". But if the vote goes against Kuchma, it would increase pressure on him to bring them home, as well as complicating his relations with Washington. -Reuters