Italy fury at 'Taliban pay' claim

Italy has angrily denied a UK newspaper report that it paid Taliban fighters in Afghanistan to keep the peace.

Italy's defence minister said his country was planning to sue the Times newspaper over the claims.

Italy has strongly denied that it pays militants to reduce casualties

French forces took over the area unaware of the policy, leaving them unaware of the risks, the paper says. Ten soldiers were killed within weeks.

In France, opposition socialists demanded the defence minister should answer questions on the claims.

The Times' report, quoting Western military officials, says the policy was operated by Italian secret services in Afghanistan's Sarobi area, east of Kabul.

Warlords as well as Taliban commanders were paid, the paper says, with the amounts running to tens of thousands of dollars.

France took over control of the region in 2008, apparently believing it to be a low-risk area, the paper says, as only one Italian had died in the previous year.

But within a month of the French take-over, 10 soldiers were killed and 21 injured in a mountain ambush.

An unnamed Afghan army officer also told French news agency AFP that Italy had paid the Taliban to avoid casualties.

"We knew that Italian forces were paying the opposition (fighters) in Sarobi so they would not be attacked. We have information on similar agreements made in the western Herat province by Italian soldiers under Nato command there," he said.

"A lot of Nato countries with troops operating in the rural areas of Afghanistan pay the insurgents so not to be attacked."

'Garbage'

But Italy, France and Nato dismissed the claims.

"These are rumours, and it is not the first time we have heard them," said French Admiral Christophe Prazuck.

In Italy, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's office also rejected the report.

"The Berlusconi government has never authorised or allowed any form of payment of sums of money in favour of members of the insurgent Taliban in Afghanistan, and is not aware of similar initiatives by the previous government," it said in a statement.

Italian Defence Minister Ignazio La Russa described the report as "garbage" and "offensive" and said staff were preparing a lawsuit against the newspaper.

Nato spokesman General Eric Tremblay said he was "not aware" of Italy having paid off Taliban militants.

"If it does go on, it's the Afghan government (that does it) rather than international forces," he told French news agency AFP.

France's Socialist Party opposition said Defence Minister Herve Morin should appear before parliament's defence committee to provide an explanation.

Italy also denied a separate element of the Times' report, which said the US ambassador had submitted a formal complaint after discovering Italians had been buying off insurgents in the far-west Herat province.

A US spokeswoman in Rome said the embassy did not comment "on internal diplomatic conversations that may or may not have occurred".