A spokesperson for Prime Minister Stephen Harper was forced to backtrack Thursday after inaccurately informing reporters that Italy was removing restrictions on the use of their soldiers in Afghanistan.

CTV's Roger Smith said the gaffe occurred just before the prime minister's plane was to leave Rome for London on the final stretch of Harper's European tour.

"The prime minister's press secretary, Carolyn Stewart Olsen, came back and told us that after having dinner with Stephen Harper last night Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi had just issued a statement saying Italy would remove the caveat that restricts what their soldiers can do in Afghanistan," said Smith.

Canada has been pressing for some time to get other countries involved in the Afghanistan mission to remove restrictions on soldiers so that they can help out more in combat operations, said Smith.

After hearing the developments, journalists reported the breaking news.

But then, after the plane departed, Stewart alerted reporters that she had got it wrong.

She said there was a wire story saying that Berlusconi was reconsidering the caveats but he hadn't made any decisions.

"The prime minister's staff was so anxious to have the story corrected that they allowed us to go up to the front of the plane and use the prime minister's secured satellite phone to call our news desks," said Smith.

"It seems the prime minister's staff was just in some unseemly haste to claim some sort of diplomatic triumph that they rushed out this news without checking the facts and it's a big embarrassment."

Harper in London

Harper was in London Thursday where, in a speech to the Canada-United Kingdom Chamber of Commerce, he said environmental targets must be balanced with economic growth.

But he added that economic growth cannot be sustained without better environmental conservation.

"But it is equally true as the current reaction to high energy prices in Europe is starting to show, that environmental progress will never be achieved unless the economic needs of the population are being met," said Harper.

"So our targets need to realistic, practical and achievable.''

Harper also said that countries like India and China must face the same targets to reduce greenhouse gases as Western nations. Otherwise, he said, the U.S. would stay out of future deals to cut emissions.

The United Nations and the European Union, along with various environmental groups, have denounced Ottawa's environmental plan.

Harper also met with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and the Queen.