BAGHDAD — An Italian member of the U.S.-led coalition has resigned, accusing L. Paul Bremer III's administration of inefficiency and failing to understand Iraq.
In Rome, the Italian Foreign Ministry on Monday confirmed the resignation of Marco Calamai, a special counselor of the Coalition Provisional Authority in the southern province of Dhi Qar, but it gave no reason.
Italy was a strong U.S. supporter during the war and deployed peacekeepers to help rebuild Iraq. But in an interview with the leftist daily L'Unita, Calamai complained that the British and Americans had marginalized the Italians.
There was no immediate comment from Bremer's staff. But State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the coalition authority had made "excellent progress," including "the physical reconstruction of Iraq, the restoration of services to Iraqi people, the beginnings of political authority."