"The day after I'll win elections, I'll set a detailed calendar for troop withdrawal," Prodi told the daily Corriere della Sera. "Italy's sole commitment will be for reconstruction and aid."

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's government sent some 3,000 soldiers to Iraq in 2003 but announced earlier this year that it would start a gradual withdrawal.

The first group of some 170 soldiers returned in August.

There is no detailed schedule, however, for the withdrawal of Italian forces.

Prodi said the US-led invasion of Iraq, which was strongly supported by Berlusconi, was a "colossal error".

"For the Americans and the British, the problem today is how to leave (Iraq). More than ever we see that the military route solves nothing, (and) that a political solution is needed," he said.

Popular opposition in Italy to military operations in Iraq has been fanned by the kidnapping of several Italian aid workers and journalists by Iraqi insurgents.

Prodi said in the interview that he supported keeping Italian troops in Afghanistan and the Balkans.

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