ROME, Jan. 19 - Italy will withdraw its nearly 3,000 troops from Iraq by the year"s end, the defense minister said today amid a fiercely fought general election campaign in a nation where the Iraq war is not popular.

"This is not a retreat, a word that is not part of our vocabulary," the minister, Antonio Martino, told a parliamentary commission. Rather, he called it a "dignified and just return."

It was the first formal announcement of Italy"s plans in Iraq, though the center-right government of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi signaled the move months ago to Italy"s voters and to its allies in Washington. With the election coming up in April, Mr. Berlusconi is trailing in the polls, and the decision would seem to ease some pressure on a particularly sensitive issue.

Italy reduced its force by 300 troops last year, and Mr. Martino said another 300 would leave the area they patrol around the southern city of Nassiriya by the end of January.

He said another 1,000 troops would leave Iraq by June, with the final withdrawal at the end of year. By then, he said, "the mission will be considered over and accomplished."

Polls show most Italians oppose the presence of their troops in Iraq, both in general opposition to the war and the fear that it makes Italy more vulnerable to a terror attack. The center-left opposition, led by former Prime Minister Romano Prodi, strongly opposes Italy"s involvement in Iraq, though its leaders have recently said that, if elected, they would not endanger stability there by pulling out immediately.

Italy has the fourth-largest contingent of troops in Iraq. While the Italian presence is not large in numbers, the Bush administration, eager to show the effort in Iraq as a shared burden among allies, reacted with some anger last year when Mr. Berlusconi first broached withdrawing troops.

Today, however, the White House called Italy"s announcement "an indication of progress" that Iraqi troops were increasingly able to take over.

"Italy is doing this all in close consultation with coalition forces," Scott McClellan, the White House spokesman, said in Washington.

In previous public discussions about withdrawing, Mr. Berlusconi and other Italian officials were careful to couch their intentions, saying that nothing would happen without approval of the United States, Iraq and other allies. Mr. Martino"s announcement today seemed more concrete, though he said the withdrawal was in line with a "dynamic" that is in accord with the plans of the United Nations, NATO and Iraq.

Mr. Martino said it was possible that Italian personnel, including soldiers, would remain in Iraq after the end of the year, though as part of a civilian reconstruction team. Any military presence, he said, would be "very different from the current one, to assure the safety of civilian staff."