Everyday English – Berlusconi to make amends with Obama
- Source: Global Times
- [13:36 June 16 2009]
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Italy's scandal-plagued prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, is scheduled to have his first formal meeting with US President Barack Obama at the White House yesterday with the upcoming G8 summit high on the agenda.
Berlusconi hopes the much sought-after meeting will burnish his image after a wave of scandals at home, perceived gaffes abroad, and an embarrassing anti-American rant by Libyan leader Moammar Gadaffi.
Recalling the 1986 US bombing of Libya in a fiery speech Thursday in Rome, Gadaffi asked: "What's the difference between the US attack on our homes and the terrorist actions of Al-Qaida?"
The North African leader also slammed the United States for allowing Iraq to become a magnet for Al-Qaida militants.
The remarks left Italian officials scrambling to confirm Rome's close ties with Washington, a given during the presidency of George W. Bush, with whom Berlusconi was on exceedingly friendly terms.
"Just because we play host to Gadaffi doesn't mean we agree with everything he says," said a clearly embarrassed Foreign Minister Franco Frattini.
Berlusconi, heading for divorce over his links to a teenage aspiring model and implicated in a corruption scandal, hopes the meeting with Obama will refocus attention on affairs of state.
A White House statement said the US leader "looks forward to discussing preparations for the G8 summit ... and consulting with the prime minister on a broad range of strategic issues of mutual concern."
Berlusconi, 72, told Italian television that he and Obama would "discuss new global financial and economic regulations"ahead of the meeting of the G8, the club of rich nations grouping the US, Canada, Japan, Russia, Britain, Germany, France and Italy.
Some 20 other countries have been invited to the meeting, including China, Egypt, India, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
Italy will host the G8 summit July 8-10 in L'Aquila, the city that was devastated by an earthquake in April that claimed 299 lives.
Berlusconi made the surprise decision to switch the venue to L'Aquila from the Sardinian island of La Madallena to “show solidarity” with the victims and save money.
In Washington, Obama and Berlusconi may also discuss a request by the US for Italy to take two Tunisian former detainees of the Guantanamo Bay prison camp.