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'It was the drink talking,' claims a rueful Berlusconi
By Peter Popham in Rome
19 September 2003=20
The Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, has apologised to the =
Jewish community for claiming in an interview with the British press =
that the dictator Benito Mussolini was "benign" and "killed nobody".
Mr Berlusconi tried to blame his remarks on the two British journalists =
who interviewed him for deliberately getting him drunk. He claimed that =
Boris Johnson, editor of The Spectator, and Nicholas Farrell, formerly =
of The Sunday Telegraph and now a columnist with Voce di Romagna, "took =
advantage of me. They were with me for hours and hours. And that's how =
it was, at the end of a very long day, in front of a bottle of =
champagne, you understand."
Mr Johnson retorted: "Il Presidente's memory must be playing him tricks =
... Alas, no champagne at all. We were plied with about a gallon of iced =
tea ... It was always clear that it was an interview."
Mr Farrell, who has recently published a revisionist biography of =
Mussolini and who describes himself as "a great fan of Berlusconi", also =
flatly denied Mr Berlusconi's account. "We were drinking iced lemon tea, =
pints of it, served by him," he told The Independent. "It was informal =
but it was official. It took months to arrange the interview and there =
were two tape recorders on the table between us. It was obvious that it =
was an official interview." Mr Farrell added: "It's such a shame he has =
told this lie. He's gone down in my estimation."
Italy's Jewish community, which suffered discrimination under the race =
laws passed by Mussolini in 1938 and lost thousands of members to German =
concentration camps after the Nazis invaded Italy in 1943, was not =
satisfied by Mr Berlusconi's apology. Riccardo Pacifici, the community's =
councillor for external relations, said: "A grand gesture is required =
[from Mr Berlusconi] to explain his remorse in a clear manner, not only =
to the Jewish community but to all Italians who have suffered =
persecution under the Fascist regime." But a spokeswoman for the =
Anti-Defamation League, an American group that fights anti-Semitism, =
said yesterday: "[Mr Berlusconi] has clarified and apologised. There is =
no problem."
* Italian judges and magistrates staged a symbolic 15-minute strike to =
protest at being branded insane by Mr Berlusconi. Mr Berlusconi has =
accused the judiciary of persecuting him.=20
VAMPIRE SHADOW - FRANZ
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<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>
<H1 class=3Dhead1>'It was the drink talking,' claims a rueful =
Berlusconi</H1>
<H3 class=3Dhead3>By Peter Popham in Rome</H3>
<P class=3Dpadnone>19 September 2003=20
<P>
<P>The Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, has apologised to the =
Jewish=20
community for claiming in an interview with the British press that the =
dictator=20
Benito Mussolini was "benign" and "killed nobody".</P>
<P>Mr Berlusconi tried to blame his remarks on the two British =
journalists who=20
interviewed him for deliberately getting him drunk. He claimed that =
Boris=20
Johnson, editor of <I>The Spectator, </I>and Nicholas Farrell, formerly =
of=20
<I>The Sunday Telegraph </I>and now a columnist with <I>Voce di =
Romagna</I>,=20
"took advantage of me. They were with me for hours and hours. And that's =
how it=20
was, at the end of a very long day, in front of a bottle of champagne, =
you=20
understand."</P>
<P>Mr Johnson retorted: "Il Presidente's memory must be playing him =
tricks ...=20
Alas, no champagne at all. We were plied with about a gallon of iced tea =
... It=20
was always clear that it was an interview."</P>
<P>Mr Farrell, who has recently published a revisionist biography of =
Mussolini=20
and who describes himself as "a great fan of Berlusconi", also flatly =
denied Mr=20
Berlusconi's account. "We were drinking iced lemon tea, pints of it, =
served by=20
him," he told <I>The Independent</I>. "It was informal but it was =
official. It=20
took months to arrange the interview and there were two tape recorders =
on the=20
table between us. It was obvious that it was an official interview." Mr =
Farrell=20
added: "It's such a shame he has told this lie. He's gone down in my=20
estimation."</P>
<P>Italy's Jewish community, which suffered discrimination under the =
race laws=20
passed by Mussolini in 1938 and lost thousands of members to German=20
concentration camps after the Nazis invaded Italy in 1943, was not =
satisfied by=20
Mr Berlusconi's apology. Riccardo Pacifici, the community's councillor =
for=20
external relations, said: "A grand gesture is required [from Mr =
Berlusconi] to=20
explain his remorse in a clear manner, not only to the Jewish community =
but to=20
all Italians who have suffered persecution under the Fascist regime." =
But a=20
spokeswoman for the Anti-Defamation League, an American group that =
fights=20
anti-Semitism, said yesterday: "[Mr Berlusconi] has clarified and =
apologised.=20
There is no problem."</P>
<P>* Italian judges and magistrates staged a symbolic 15-minute strike =
to=20
protest at being branded insane by Mr Berlusconi. Mr Berlusconi has =
accused the=20
judiciary of persecuting him. </P></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>VAMPIRE SHADOW - =
FRANZ</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>
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