Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi has struck out against The Guardian after its article on Monday declaring that Italy's organsiation of the G8 summit this week in L'Aquila has been 'chaotic' and that "growing pressure from other member states to have Italy expelled from the group". The article by the paper's diplomatic correspondent Julian Borger was in turn criticised by Berlusconi as being "una grande cantonata di un piccolo giornale", a large blunder by a small newspaper. Italy's Foreign Minister Franco Frattini also hopes that "the Guardian is expelled from the great newspapers of the world".The Guardian's claims of chaotic preparations were founded on a report by Richard Gowan, an analyst at the Centre for International Co-operation at New York University. The Guardian further reports that the US had taken control of G8 proceedings and that Washington organised "sherpa calls" (conference calls among senior officials) in a last-ditch bid to inject purpose into the meeting.
The G8 summit was moved from La Maddalena in Northern Sardinia (also home to a US military base) to L'Aquila in Central Italy after Berlusconi's ambitious plans to rebuild the city after major earthquake struck in April of this year.
photo: independent on line
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