ROME, Dec. 15 (Xinhuanet) -- The Italian government announced on Thursday that it will withdraw another batch of 300 troops stationed in Iraq next month.

    Italy's military contingent in Iraq will shortly be reduced to 2, 600 in January after a drop from 3,200 to 2,900 in September ina similar move, Defense Minister Antonio Martino said at a press conference.

    However, he reiterated that the nation's commitment to Iraq remained unchanged.

    "Reducing the contingent does not mean withdrawal. That is a word which is not in our vocabulary," he said, referring to the force based in the southern city of Nassiriya.

    "This is simply the implementation of our 'success strategy' --as we complete our tasks we can lighten our presence while keepingup our commitment," he added.

    The Italian contingent's mission now consists mainly of training and equipping the Iraqi new security forces, he noted.

    The government will table its plans for the Italian mission in Iraq before parliament in January, when measures ensuring state funding for foreign operations come up for renewal.

    "Parliament will then give its view of that program, which mustbe linked to the political and institutional process which is under way and which has been given legitimacy by the United Nations," Martino said.

    The defense minister disclosed that he had recently discussed this process with his US counterpart Donald Rumsfeld and Iraqi authorities.

    Italy currently has the fourth largest contingent serving in Iraq after the the United States, Britain and South Korea.

    Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, a staunch ally of US President George W. Bush, has promised that troop numbers will gradually be reduced as the situation improves in Iraq, probably acomplete withdrawal at the end of 2006. Enditem