ROME, June 22 (Xinhuanet) -- The Italian government decided Tuesday to extend the mandate of its 3,000 troops deployed in Iraq till the end of the year.

    The troops' mandate has been extended by a government decree till December 31, the government said in a statement issued following a cabinet meeting.

    Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said earlier this month that Italian troops would "remain in Iraq for as long as (their presence) will be useful to strengthen democracy, for as long as the Iraqi government requests."

    However, head of the opposition Green party, Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio, said his party plans to fight the decision in parliament on the ground that the extension of Italian troops' mission in Iraq is unconstitutional.

    "The government continues to fund a war mission, as is illustrated by the arrival today of Ariete combat vehicles in Nasiriyah" in southern Iraq, where the Italian troops are based, Pecoraro Scanio said.

    The mandates for Italian troops deployed in Afghanistan, Albania, Bosnia, Eritrea, Kosovo, Somalia, Sudan and in the West Bank town of Hebron have also been extended for the same period, the government statement said. Enditem