<http://msnbc.msn.com/id/14906162/> Prodi attacked over contacts with Iran By Tony Barber in Rome Financial Times
Updated: 5:41 p.m. ET Sept 19, 2006
Roman Catholic and conservative Italians on Tuesday attacked Romano Prodi, prime minister, for pursuing high-level contacts with Iran at a time when Pope Benedict XVI is under fire from the Tehran leadership for provocative remarks about Islam.
The criticisms of Mr Prodi's foreign policy created trouble on a second front for the premier as he fought to emerge from a domestic imbroglio involving Telecom Italia, the giant telecommunications company.
Mr Prodi has agreed to a request from Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad, Iran's president, for a bilateral meeting in New York on Wednesday on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly session.
The meeting would be a rare example of face-to-face talks between the Iranian leader and a western head of government, and would come at a moment of sensitive diplomacy between Iran and western countries.
Last week saw the first signs of a possible compromise on Iran's nuclear programme, suspected by western governments of being aimed at creating a nuclear weapon by stealth.
But the atmosphere darkened after the pope was assailed by Iran's leaders, and other Islamic countries and communities around the world, for making a speech that hinted at a link between Islam and violence.
The pope, who later made a qualified apology, won sympathy from western leaders such as George W. Bush, the US president, Jacques Chirac, France's president, and Angela Merkel, Germany's chancellor, but Mr Prodi stayed silent.
"In not defending the pope, Prodi dishonours Italy," said Alfredo Mantovano, a senator in the opposition National Alliance party. "His silence in the face of the violent campaign against the pope is scandalous."
The reticence of Mr Prodi, a practising Catholic, also risked alienating Italy's Church hierarchy. Cardinal Camillo Ruini, head of Italy's national bishops' conference, complained on Monday that the pope had become a target for "unjustified threats" and "intimidatory acts" from certain Muslims.
Conservative Italians feel a unique responsibility to defend the pope because of Italy's role as the historical heartland of Roman Catholicism, and because the Vatican mini-state depends on Italy for its security.
However, supporters of Mr Prodi said his meeting with Mr Ahmadi-Nejad would be a natural follow-up to talks that he held recently with Ali Larijani, Iran's top nuclear security official.
Mr Prodi is keen to associate Italy with Britain, France and Germany in the select group of European Union negotiators that hope to reach a deal with Iran on its nuclear programme.
"Italian policy mustn't use the religious issue as an instrument of domestic political struggle. No one should throw petrol on the fire, because the situation is very delicate," said Angelo Bonelli, a member of parliament for Mr Prodi's centre-left coalition.
No less delicate are the repercussions for Mr Prodi from the Telecom Italia affair, which has prompted prosecutors in Rome to open an inquiry into possible wrongdoing.
Mr Prodi is under pressure to address parliament in person on the affair, which has forced the resignations of Telecom Italia's chairman and one of the premier's top advisers after the government criticised the company's strategy.
Copyright The Financial Times Ltd. All rights reserved.
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