Italian Defense Minister Antonio Martino confirmed on Monday that Italy had reservations about the Iraq war, Italian news agency ANSA reported.

Commenting on an interview in which Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said he had repeatedly tried to dissuade US President George W. Bush from invading Iraq, Martino said that Italy had doubts about whether armed intervention in Iraq was opportune.

But the minister, speaking at a ceremony in Grosseto to mark the F2000 Typhoon jet fighter's 1000th hour in flight, went on to stress that his country were on America's side and not Saddam Hussein's when given the chance to take sides.

In an interview broadcast on Italian private TV channel La7, which were released on Saturday, Berlusconi said: "I was never convinced that war was the best way to make a country democratic and to bring it out of a bloody dictatorship."

"I tried many times to convince the American president not to wage war... I tried to find other ways and solutions," he added.

The interview surprised some political observers and members of the opposition, particularly as it coincided with Berlusconi's Washington visit.

The premier's critics said he was seeking to distance himself from the unpopular war in Iraq ahead of next year's general elections.

Italy did not participate in the 2003 war on Iraq but gave Washington permission to use its air space, transport infrastructure and military bases for technical needs. It now has some 2,900 troops serving in Iraq.

Source: Xinhua