LAST FRIDAY, Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi interrupted a meeting with 15 female deputies from his People of Freedom party to take a phone call from British prime minister David Cameron.
Apologising for the interruption, Mr Berlusconi explained that, in these times of Libyan crisis and in view of his great experience, many western leaders, including US president Barack Obama, had sought his advice.
After all, said Mr Berlusconi, Mr Obama was a mere beginner when it came to foreign policy.
WikiLeaks extracts, published last weekend in Italian daily L’Espresso, would beg to differ.
US ambassadors in Rome express their concern about Mr Berlusconi’s apparent attraction for “very assertive leaders” such as deposed Tunisian president Zine al-Abidine, Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin and Libyan leader Col Muammar Gadafy.
In a report entitled, Old Friends, New Business, the US embassy in Tunis suggests that a 2009 “private” meeting between Mr Berlusconi and Mr Ben Ali was dedicated to private affairs. After the meeting, Tunisian press reports spoke of a new Italian-Tunisian energy accord but this had been signed in July 2003.
Furthermore, WikiLeaks carries a 2004 report on a meeting between Mr Berlusconi and Mr Mubarak during which both claimed credit for “softening up Gadafy”. It also added both men claimed to have got a few laughs “from swapping stories about wacky Gadafy”.
Italian foreign minister Franco Frattini yesterday said that given that Italy’s 2008 treaty with Libya was suspended, no legal impediment existed to Italy becoming involved in “actions” against the Gadafy regime.