Italian Premier Romano Prodi resigned after just nine months in office Wednesday, after his center-left government embarassingly lost a Senate vote on foreign policy, including the nation's military mission in Afghanistan, reported The Associated Press. Prodi aides did not rule out the possibility that President Giorgio Napolitano would ask Prodi to try to form a new government. Napolitano's office said political consultations would begin Thursday to determine which leaders might have enough support to put together a new government. In the meantime, it said, the president had asked Prodi during a meeting Wednesday night to stay on in a caretaker role. The government lost the Senate motion, by just two votes, despite Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema's calling for the often bickering coalition partners to close ranks and support the government's foreign policy statement, including Italy's military mission in Afghanistan.
