Arab League summit: Pro-Israel Berlusconi kisses Ghaddafi's hand

The fiercely pro-Israeli Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi was among the guests at the controversy-filled Arab League summit in Libya with the supposed aim of forming a unified strategy against Tel Aviv's illegal settlement plans in Palestinian territories.

At one point, according to reports, Berlusconi, whose country ruled Libya for over three decades after 1911, stooped to kiss Gaddafi's hand upon arrival at the summit.

Fourteen Arab leaders and three foreign quests attended the two-day summit, which kicked off on Saturday in the Mediterranean city of Sirte.

Italy has become a firm European supporter of Libya since a 2008 formal apology to Tripoli for the decades of colonial rule. The apology led to a number of accords which has cemented bilateral ties.

via Pro-Israel Berlusconi kisses Ghaddafi at Arab meet.

I thought that Moratinos was going to be noticeable for fooling himself.

Is this the result of old age or what?

(via).

Photo | Press.tv.

Cross-posted from T&P.

"We Don't Have to Be Tolerant All the Time"

Berlusconi allied Mayor bans Burquinis:

Women wearing the garment, made up of a veil, a tunic and loose leggings, face a fine of €500 (£430) if they are spotted at swimming pools or rivers, the ANSA news agency reported.

The anti-immigration mayor of the northern Piedmont town said: "The sight of a 'masked woman' could disturb small children, not to mention problems of hygiene.

"We don't have to be tolerant all the time," Gianluca Buonanno said.

Justifying the move, Mr Buonanno added: "Imagine a western woman bathing in a bikini in a Muslim country. The consequences could be decapitation, prison or deportation. We are merely prohibiting the use of the burqini."

Last week a swimming pool in Paris refused entry to a burqini-clad woman on similar grounds, adding to tensions over Muslim dress in France.

The incident came as French lawmakers conducted hearings on whether to ban the burqa after President Nicolas Sarkozy said the head-to-toe body covering and veil was "not welcome" in France, which is home to Europe's biggest Muslim minority.

Mr Buonanno belongs to the Northern League, a party allied with the centre-Right People of Freedom party led by Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian prime minister.

Berlusconi Reaffirms Troops

In a follow up to a story I posted yesterday, PM Silvio Berlusconi has re-affirmed the Italian government's commitment to the effort against Islamo-Fascism in Europe:

Rome, 28 July (AKI) - Italy's 3,250 troops will remain in Afghanistan, prime minister Silvio Berlusconi stated on Tuesday. "There is no change of policy," he told journalists in Rome, reaffirming earlier statements made by defence minister Ignazio La Russa and foreign minister Franco Frattini.

Berlusconi dismissed as "hot air" reports of a rift over the issue with the conservative government's junior coalition partner, the Northern League.

"I understand that newspapers need to fill pages in the summer season, but this supposed rift is hot air," he stated.

La Russa and Frattini on Monday rejected calls by minister without portfolio and Northern League politician Roberto Calderoli to withdraw troops from Afghanistan.

"In Afghanistan, we are working for Italy's security including that of Calderoli... we are staying," Frattini said in Brussels, during a meeting of European Union foreign ministers.

"We cannot give up the mission in Afghanistan. What our lads are doing out there is crucial," said La Russa.

The Northern League's leader, Umberto Bossi, also urged the withdrawal of troops in Afghanistan following a recent spate of attacks against Italian soldiers.

But in an apparent climb-down late on Monday, the party's chief parliamentary whips issued a joint statement saying: "The Northern League has always maintained the commitments it has made to the government and will also do so in this case."

The Italian parliament last week voted to extend the financing of all of Italy's 35 missions overseas.

A roadside bomb attack earlier this month killed a 25-year-old Italian soldier Alessandro Di Lisio while on patrol near the western Afghan city of Farah. Two attacks in Afghanistan at the weekend wounded three Italian soldiers and three Italian paratroopers were also injured in the bombing that killed Di Lisio.

Twelve Italian soldiers have died in Afghanistan since 2004.

Photo courtesy of Daylife-Getty Images

Gotta Love Silvio

Diplomacy beckons:

Faced with the thorny problem of having no "First Lady" to look after the G8 leaders' spouses on their three day trip to Italy, Silvio Berlusconi has come up with a solution in keeping with his reputation.

The Italian prime minister has asked a former topless model turned government minister to stand in for his estranged wife.

The 72-year-old premier has chosen Mara Carfagna – now Italy's equal opportunities minister – to take care of the likes of Michelle Obama and Sarah Brown.

Miss Carfagna, 33, is an ex-glamour girl whose sultry looks and portfolio of lingerie calendars earned her the title of the world's sexiest government minister from men's magazine Maxim.

The one-time Miss Italy contestant will be supported in the role by another attractive young member of the cabinet, education minister Maria Stella Gelmini.

Mr Berlusconi is said to have chosen Miss Carfagna and Miss Gelmini to reward them for being "staunch champions" as he has battled allegations that he slept with a high-class call-girl at his mansion in Rome last November. Together they will guide the G8 wives around Rome and the mountain town of L'Aquila 65 miles away, where the summit is being held from Wednesday to Friday.

But the appointment of the pair has reportedly sparked a "cold war" with two of Mr Berlusconi's other favourites, youth minister Giorgia Meloni and environment minister Stefania Prestigiacomo.

Miss Meloni has been forced to deny she felt snubbed, saying she had other G8 duties to attend to: "I can't see what all the fuss is about."

There had been intense speculation over how Mr Berlusconi would solve the problem of no longer having a First Lady of his own when it came to hosting the G8. (Read entire article)