continue troop mission in Iraq Rome, July 21, SPA -- Italy's lower house of parliament on Thursdayapproved funding to keep the country's troops in Iraq untilthe end of the year, AP reported. Support to extend the mission came from Premier SilvioBerlusconi's conservatives, who have a comfortable majorityin parliament. The center-left bloc is opposed to the warand voted against extending the deployment. The motion now goes to the Senate for final approval in avote expected next week. The 283-207 vote in the Chamber of Deputies came a dayafter Defense Minister Antonio Martino told lawmakers thatItaly's job in Iraq was not yet done but that a gradualwithdrawal of its troops from there was not far off. "Immediate withdrawal is wrong because our work there isnot yet completed," Martino said in parliament. "That'swhat the Iraqi government says, and the facts confirm it:on the one hand the many attacks, and on the other the slowbut constant and virtuous growth of the Iraqi state." He added that "our work there allows us a gradual exitthat is not far off in time."--more1243 Local Time 0943 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/278228