Rome: Italy has recalled its ambassador to Zimbabwe for consultations, the Foreign Ministry said today.

Foreign Minister Franco Frattini ordered Ambassador Mario Bologna home days after calling for all European Union diplomats to be withdrawn from Zimbabwe in a protest against President Robert Mugabe's regime.

The ministry said in a statement that a decision to pullout all EU ambassadors would reflect the policy of "complete firmness and disapproval that is shared by the international community."

Frattini first floated the proposal on Friday at a meeting of Group of Eight ministers in Kyoto, Japan - just as Zimbabwe was holding a one-candidate presidential runoff that gave Mugabe a widely discredited victory.

The ministry's statement criticised the head of the EU Commission s delegation in Harare, Xavier Marchal, who reportedly disagreed with Frattini s idea, saying earlier today that foreign diplomats should stay in Zimbabwe to help the population.

"I m not sure I agree with Frattini," the ANSA news agency quoted Marchal as saying. "Zimbabwe's people have shown great dignity, and we have stayed to help the population with a great number of projects."

The Italian ministry praised the EU's work in Zimbabwe, but said withdrawing the bloc's ambassadors would have "political significance" and urged other EU governments to follow Rome's example.

Source : PTI