Italian minister who made T-shirts of Mohammed resigns

Italy's Reforms Minister Roberto Calderoli resigned on Saturday following deadly clashes in Libya over cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad that he had made into T-shirts and wore on state television, a spokesman said.

Some 10 people were killed on Friday trying to storm the Italian consulate in Benghazi, the only Western diplomatic mission in the eastern Libyan city, Italy's ambassador to Tripoli said.

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi publicly demanded Calderoli step down on Friday, but acknowledged that he did not have the power under Italy's constitution to force the far-right minister out of office.

The episode has embarrassed Berlusconi ahead of April elections in which he wants to portray himself as a force of moderation within the center-right. It also follows years of warming relations with Libya, which Rome once ruled as a colony.

excerpts....

Calderoli, a member of the anti-immigrant Northern League party, said he would step down if it would help build dialogue "between the Western world and the Islamic world".

"I will do it the second after I have had a sign from the Islamic world that my action could be useful," he told Italy's ANSA news agency.

But he did not resign, signalling the possibility of drawn out fight that could benefit Italy's center-left opposition ahead of the April 9-10 ballot.

Center-left leader Romano Prodi, whose lead over Berlusconi had been narrowing in recent opinion polls, seized on the events as proof of extremism within the center-right House of Freedom coalition.

"It should not have waited until we were forced to count the dead to take action," Prodi said. He added that asking Caderoli to step down was "the least" the government could do.

Weeks of sometimes violent protests by Muslims across the world against the cartoons have triggered fears of a clash of civilizations between the West and Islam. Muslims believe images of the Prophet are forbidden.

But Calderoli proudly wore the images on Italian state television this week, saying his T-shirt was a "battle for freedom".

The stone-throwing protesters in Libya set fire to the Danish flag and cars and clashed with police as they attempted to storm the Italian consulate in Benghazi. They set a fire on the building's first floor.

Italy's Ambassador to Tripoli, Francesco Trupiano, acknowledged Calderoli's T-shirt may have played a role in the protests, but stopped short of blaming him outright.

"The origin of the protest is the cartoons. But obviously I can't rule out that the initiatives of a government minister ... may have influenced (the crowd) by agitating spirits," Trupiano said.

Palestinians riot after anti-Muslim graffiti defaces mosque
Palestinians discovered anti-Muslim graffiti on a West Bank mosque on Friday, for the second time in a week.

After the graffiti was discovered, Palestinian youths began rioting in the Azoun village near Qalqilyah. Security forces fired tear gas and stun grenades at them in an effort to disperse the riot. Three were arrested.

The graffiti, written in Hebrew, said "Mohammed is a pig" and "Death to the Muslims." Residents of the village of Nebi Elias, where the mosque is located, have accused area settlers of the vandalism. No suspects have been arrested.

Israel Defense Forces soldiers removed the graffiti, and the army filed a complaint with the Judea and Samaria District police.

The IDF also contacted leaders in the village of Nebi Elias, east of Qalqilyah, where the mosque is located.

Palestinians also rioted Sunday after similar graffiti was found.

In the earlier incident, an Israeli woman was lightly wounded when Palestinians threw a rock at her head while she was driving. Palestinian protesters also threw rocks at several additional Israeli vehicles.

Italy caves. Ciao!

It is the way that Italy is going from what I see.

Look at this thread in the general discussion area of a motorcycle forum that I am a member of: (also note the Danish Whine)

Link here

Excerpt from The Whine: (the French have nothing on this guy)

....because the notoriously most idiot minister of current italian government was wearing a t-shirt stamped with the famous Muhammad's cartoons during a TV broadcast...now, at how much distance do you think we are from Libya?

85~100 miles from Sicily, no more...they currently receive our TV and watch OUR transimissions like Albanians, Greeks and Turkeys do.

Tell me, is it a PROVOCATION? Why he did it? ....results; 11 victims, much more injureds...by now..the things are still happening...you know..today is friday, the muslims' prayer day.
Denmark, Norway and others country are too far...we are in THEIR missiles' range...it is happened already, do you remember?

During the last crisis, two missiles fells out in the sea, 10 miles from Sicily, where there is a numbered colony of libians and tunisines workers.

No one before committed this crime, here in the south of Italy we still had no problem at all, since now, with others mediterranean peoples, like the ancient greeks and romans
WE STILL STRONGLY DONT' CARE about colours, races, religions and social status....

incidentally the guilty minister is from Milan, very north of Italy....not an italics at all.

Please, excuse me for this, but I see a multicultural, working society falling down cause the idiocy of few persons someone has keep on power....sorry again

I wish we were able to make them pay occasionally.

Something like 25,000 of them have been stamped "paid in full" in Iraq alone. Lots more where they came from of course.

IMHO, the Mullahs and Imams are deliberately stirring up the masses. In Libya as in Syria, stuff like this doesn't "just happen", and it doesn't happen at all with at least government cooperation, if not organization. Why they are doing it at this time is less certain, but it probably has something to do with the election of Hamas to run the Palestinian Authority. Call it justification for future acts, and generating a fresh supply of "martyrs" ready to die for Allah, if they can just take some Jews or better yet Americans, with them.

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