ITALY: Italy's government yesterday sought to minimise the political and diplomatic fallout after the resignation of a far-right minister accused of fanning Muslim fury by wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with cartoons of the prophet Muhammad.
Reforms minister Roberto Calderoli, an outspoken member of the radical Northern League party, resigned on Saturday, bowing to pressure from within the ruling centre-right bloc after he was blamed for riots outside the Italian consulate in Libya on Friday in which 11 people were killed.
Mr Calderoli caused a storm at home and abroad by appearing on state television in a T-shirt festooned with cartoons of Muhammad that have enraged the Muslim world.
The subsequent controversy has embarrassed Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi ahead of April elections in which he would like to portray himself to the electorate as a force of moderation within the centre-right.
The opposition, which is ahead in opinion polls but has seen its lead narrow in recent weeks, leapt on to the controversy, accusing the prime minister's far-right allies of putting Italians at risk of attacks from militants.
"The Calderoli affair is very serious. It undermines the international credibility of Italy and puts our country at risk of terrorist attacks," said Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio of the Greens.
"The [ centre-right] House of Freedoms needs to decide whether it is a democratic coalition . . . or whether it is a dangerous coalition because it has allied itself with neo-fascists and racists," he said.
Foreign minister Gianfranco Fini, who alongside Mr Berlusconi slammed Mr Calderoli for printing the caricatures on T-shirts, dismissed suggestions that the controversy weakened the centre-right.
But Italian media reported the Northern League party was irked by the widespread condemnation from government ranks and would discuss at a meeting of its federal council today whether it would now pull out of an electoral alliance and run on its own in the polls.
The league has long opposed mass immigration in Italy and its leaders say violence over the cartoons shows the dangers of allowing in Muslim immigrants.
After Mr Calderoli's resignation, it has two ministers left in the government.
The latest surveys say it could win up to 6 per cent of the vote in April, strengthening its role as a kingmaker in Mr Berlusconi's fragmented coalition - which is trailing the centre-left by about four percentage points.
"Our alliance with the league stands," said Fabrizio Cicchitto, deputy co-ordinator for Mr Berlusconi's Forza Italia party.
The front page of the league's newspaper, La Padania, carried a picture of a white T-shirt yesterday with the words "Let's defend our roots" and an article by Mr Calderoli slamming Mr Berlusconi.
"I step aside as a minister, but certainly not as a militant . . . and even more so in the face of inexplicable statements by the prime minister who would like to hold me, rather than Islamic fanatics, responsible for what happened," the 49-year-old dentist said.
He recently referred to Muslims as "Ali Babas".