Bush is al-Qaeda's 'best recruiting sergeant', declares ambassador By Christopher Adams, Political Correspondent
The British ambassador to Rome yesterday heaped embarrassment on Downing Street and his diplomatic superiors when he reportedly described George W. Bush, the US president, as al-Qaeda's "best recruiting sergeant".
Sir Ivor Roberts, a man with long experience overseas and one of the Foreign Office's most distinguished diplomats, was quoted in a leading Italian newspaper as telling a private gathering of policymakers at the weekend: "If anyone is ready to celebrate the eventual re-election of Bush, it's al-Qaeda."
His remarks, which were reported by the daily Corriere della Sera, caused irritation at No 10, which was already trying to stamp on newspaper claims based on a leaked memo that it ignored warnings about the lack of planning in post-war Iraq. Tony Blair is Mr Bush's closest international ally.
The gaffe prompted an alarmed telephone call from senior Foreign Office officials to the Rome embassy and a terse statement in London.
"We're not commenting at all on what he said. This is not government policy," said an official. Yesterday evening Sir Ivor said: "These remarks as reported do not reflect my personal views."
He had been speaking at a closed-door conference in Tuscany conducted under Chatham House rules, which mean that anything said by those present is treated as off the record.
There was an angry response from one conservative-leaning newspaper supportive of Silvio Berlusconi, Italy's prime minister. Giuliano Ferrara, editor of Il Foglio, declared he was boycotting a planned dinner with the ambassador.
Sir Ivor's comments are unlikely to go down well in Italy, which backed the US-led war in Iraq and has troops there.
Earlier this year, a number of former UK ambassadors wrote an open letter to Mr Blair criticising US policy on Iraq and the Middle East and London's steadfast support for Washington.
No serving ambassador has publicly voiced concern about the Bush administration's handling of the conflict.
Sir Ivor's comments came as John Kerry, the Democratic challenger for the presidency, launched his most detailed critique of Mr Bush's handling of the Iraq war, calling the invasion a "distraction" from the war on terrorism and warning that the nation faced a conflict "without an end in sight" if it did not change course.
"Saddam Hussein was a brutal dictator who deserves his own special place in hell but that was not a reason to go to war," Mr Kerry said.
"We have traded a dictator for a chaos that has left America less secure."