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3RD LD: Prodi declares victory, but ruling bloc questions result+(Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)ROME, April 11_(Kyodo) _ (EDS: UPDATING) Italy's center-left opposition coalition, led by Romano Prodi, declared victory Tuesday in the general election, but Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's center-right ruling bloc has questioned the results. Prodi, a former prime minister, told opposition supporters in a Rome square that it won the election. According to the Interior Ministry, the prime minister's bloc won 155 of the 315 seats up for grabs in the Senate against 154 seats for the center-left opposition. But the result does not count another six seats earmarked for Italians living abroad. The center-left coalition claimed it has won four of those six seats. Meanwhile, the opposition center-left coalition narrowly defeated the ruling bloc in the lower house, according to the ministry. One main election issues was Prodi's call for a prompt withdrawal of Italian troops stationed in Iraq. The troops had been sent by Berlusconi, one of the closest European allies of U.S. President George W. Bush. If Prodi's victory is confirmed, it may affect policies of U.S. allies such as Britain and Japan regarding their troop deployments in Iraq. During the campaign, Berlusconi, 69, skirted around the Iraq issue. In the meantime, Prodi, 66, vowed to withdraw Italian troops from Iraq as soon as possible if he wrests power from Berlusconi. About 2,600 Italian troops are stationed in Iraq, the fourth-largest figure after the United States, Britain and South Korea. The Berlusconi-led alliance pledged to revitalize the Italian economy by cutting taxes and boosting public works projects, while the opposition bloc unveiled a plan to raise taxes on high-income earners. Berlusconi, who took office about five years ago, is known as a billionaire media mogul. Prodi, an economics professor and former chief of the European Union, defeated Berlusconi in a general election in 1996 but stepped down only two years later. A new Italian cabinet is set to be inaugurated in May. |