The British ambassador to Italy has caused a political storm by describing President Bush as “al-Qaeda’s best recruiting sergeant”.
The remark by Sir Ivor Roberts, at a closed-doors Anglo-Italian policy conference in Tuscany at the weekend, was reported by the Corriere della Sera newspaper this morning.
Sir Ivor was also quoted as telling the gathering: “If anyone is ready to celebrate the eventual re-election of Bush, it’s al Qaeda.”
British Embassy officials in Rome refused to comment on the remarks, saying that the meeting had been held under “Chatham House rules” - meaning that anything said by any delegate should remain off the record.
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But Giuliano Ferrara, outspoken editor of the conservative Il Foglio broadsheet and a fervent supporter of the war in Iraq, wrote an open letter today saying he would boycott a previously scheduled dinner with Sir Ivor tonight.
“The dinner unfortunately would be a complete waste of time and a grotesque hypocrisy,” he said. Signor Ferrara added that he would prefer to have supper with the French ambassador to Italy “who loyally represents in Rome Mr Jacques Chirac”.
Sir Ivor was British ambassador to Yugoslavia in the mid-1990s, helping negotiations between the international community and Yugoslav authorities. He then served as British Ambassador to Ireland before his Italian posting.
Although polls have shown Italians consistently opposed to the war, Silvio Berlusconi’s Government maintains around 3,000 troops in Iraq throughout the conflict, making Italy the third largest contributor of troops after the United States and Britain.