W O R L D

Italian PM hurt in attack
Milan, December 14
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was savagely attacked yesterday at the end of a political rally in the centre of the city.
Italy’s Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi (left) after he was attacked and a man apprehended in the incident, in Milan on Sunday. — Reuters

A day after, Fonseka in denial mode
Chandani Kirinde writes from Colombo
Sri Lanka’s former Army Commander and Presidential candidateGen Sarath Fonseka (retd) on Monday denied that any LTTE leaders had tried to surrender during the last day of the war in the north of the country.

‘Army, CIA threat to democracy
The General Headquarters of Pakistan Army and the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) pose threat to the present democratic dispensation, Kamal Azfar, counsel for President Asif Ali Zardari, told the Supreme Court on Monday.

Italian PM hurt in attack

Milan, December 14
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was savagely attacked yesterday at the end of a political rally in the centre of the city. He suffered two damaged teeth, a broken nose, cuts to his lips and other facial injuries.

The PM’s spokesman and undersecretary to the Cabinet, Paolo Bonaiuti, said the PM had a bad headache throughout the night but had asked to read the newspapers as soon as he woke up today.

Berlusconi was struck in the face by a man holding a small replica of Milan’s landmark cathedral.

Witnesses said Berlusconi was attacked after a political rally in the centre of Milan, as he was signing autographs in the square in front of the cathedral, the Duomo.

The 73-year-old had just finished giving a speech to rally support for his ruling coalition amid continuing speculation about a pending election. During the speech he launched a fresh attack on the Italian Left and the country’s magistrates.

Berlusconi fell to the ground after he was struck and his security guards immediately took him to nearby San Raffaele hospital for treatment. Doctors expect him to take 20 days to fully recover. The man accused of attacking the PM was immediately arrested.

The police said Massimo Tartaglia, 42, had no criminal record and was not among the small group of protesters at the rally, but they said that he has been treated for mental health issues at Milan’s Policlinico Hospital for the past ten years.

The vicious attack was a dramatic end to the rally which was seen as an important bid by Berlusconi to address the party faithful and restore his declining popularity which has suffered from allegations of corruption, mafia links and sexual conquests.

Berlusconi had just finished giving a speech to members of his People of Freedom ruling coalition at about 6.30 p.m. in the front of the cathedral when the attack occurred.

He began greeting his supporters, shaking hands and signing autographs when a man emerged and struck him in the face.

“A supporter asked Berlusconi if he could photograph him, then he pulled out his wallet to give him his business card,” said Doriano Riparbelli, a local party organiser. “Berlusconi moved to shake the hands of other supporters and it was at that point they he struck him with a statuette.”

Late Sunday Italian President Giorgio Napolitano joined leaders from across the political spectrum in condemning the attack.

“I express my strongest condemnation for this serious and rash act of aggression towards the president of the cabinet (prime minister) who has my personal support,” he said.

“What happened to Berlusconi was an act of terrorism,” said Umberto Bossi, head of the anti-immigrant Northern League and Berlusconi ally, immediately after the attack.

Only a week ago tens of thousands of Italians marched through the streets of Rome to protest against Berlusconi and demand his resignation.

The demonstrators expressed outrage over the PM’s alleged conflicts of interest, corruption and his bid to seek immunity from prosecution in legal cases involving his media and real estate empire. — IANS/AKI 

A day after, Fonseka in denial mode

Chandani Kirinde writes from Colombo
Sri Lanka’s former Army Commander and Presidential candidateGen Sarath Fonseka (retd) on Monday denied that any LTTE leaders had tried to surrender during the last day of the war in the north of the country.

“I was closely monitoring the final stages of the war and there wasn’t anyone trying to come with white flags and surrender”, he told a news conference.

The General attempted to defuse the controversy caused by a statement attributed to him in a Sunday newspaper in which he said the country’s Defence Secretary Gothabaya Rajapaksa had ordered LTTE leaders, who wanted to surrender, shot.

General Fonseka told a hurriedly called press conference that he would take full responsibility for all events that took place during the war and there was no instance of LTTE members trying to surrender in the final stages.

He said earlier he had been misquoted in a newspaper and therefore wanted to set the record straight. “I don’t want to make allegations against anyone. If there are any investigations on what happened during the final stages of the war I am willing to face them”, he said.

Lankan govt mulls legal options

The Sri Lanka’s government will consider legal options against opposition presidential candidate and former Army chief Gen Sarath Fonseka for making baseless allegations against the Defence Secretary and his subordinate, a ruling coalition leader said today.

Legal process would follow in this regard, Wimal Weerawansa, leader of the National Freedom Front, an ally of the ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) said at a news briefing here.

He said the matter would be discussed at highest level of government to be forwarded to the Attorney-General for opinion to seek advice for the Criminal Investigation Department to commence investigations, an official statement said.

Weerawansa claimed that Fonseka as a retired military commander had violated all norms and traditions of the military establishment he served for 40 years by making baseless charges against his subordinate Brig Silva and his Defence Secretary Gotabhaya. — PTI

‘Army, CIA threat to democracy
Afzal Khan writes from Islamabad

The General Headquarters of Pakistan Army and the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) pose threat to the present democratic dispensation, Kamal Azfar, counsel for President Asif Ali Zardari, told the Supreme Court on Monday.

Azfar made the sensational statement in response to questions from court relating to several observations contained in the petition he filed in the court on behalf of the federation on Thursday. Political circles were, in the meantime, intrigued by an unscheduled meeting on Monday evening between army chief Gen. Ashfaq Pervez Kayani and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani.

In his petition Azfar requested that the federal government be made a party in the case challenging the constitutional validity of the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) that pardoned corruption cases against President Zardari and several thousand politicians, bureaucrats and others.

In the petition Azfar had requested the court to confine itself to the main thrust of the petitions that it violated the constitution. In an apparent reference to the proceedings under which the court is also asking for information about Zardari’s assets and nature of Swiss cases, Azfar said “extraneous” matters should not be allowed to creep into the case. He warned that the country was facing terrorism and other serious challenges that should be kept in mind by the court while dealing with the petitions in order to ensure that the present democratic system is not derailed.

Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry took exception to Azfar’s remarks while emphatically declaring that the court would never do anything to destabilize democracy. He asked Azfar who is attempting to derail democratic order? Azfar said I believe the main threat comes from the CIA and the GHQ.

This created a stir in the court. The CJ asked him who had advised him to say these things in the petition. Afzar said these were his personal views. When the CJ asked him to file a written affidavit in this context by Tuesday, Azfar offered to withdraw these observations, which the court declined. 

Not involved in 26/11: Qureshi
Blames India for ongoing terror spree in Pak
Afzal Khan writes from Islamabad

Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has denied Islamabad’s role in last year’s Mumbai terror attacks, but claimed that his government has concrete evidence to prove Indian involvement in the ongoing terror activities in Pakistan.

“There is substantial evidence to prove India’s involvement in terror activities in the country,” Qureshi said in an interview to an Arab television marking a significant departure from his earlier statements cautioning against blaming India without concrete proof.

In recent weeks, Qureshi has been voicing disagreement with interior minister Rehman Malik and other government functionaries in provinces and the centre who have directly accused India of being behind some heinous terrorist acts besides fomenting insurgency in Balochistan.

In his latest interview with an Arab television, Qureshi said the international community supported Pakistan’s stand that it was not involved in the Mumbai attacks.

“Now it has been admitted worldwide that Pakistan was above question with regard to the Mumbai terror incident,” the foreign minister said. Mumbai attacks had been plotted by elements who wished to sabotage Pakistan-India relations, he added.

He said both countries need to cooperate with each other to eliminate extremism and reduce bilateral tensions in order to devote their resources to socio-economic development of their peoples. “Economic progress is vital to counter extremism in the region,” he added.

The foreign minister urged international community to make India realise that there was no option other than talks to establish peace in the region.