The Italian PM has the Pope, Kofi Annan and Bob Geldof after him – and there are calls to expel Italy from the G8How much criticism can Silvio Berlusconi take? Kofi Annan, the former UN Secretary-General, has joined Bob Geldof in admonishing the Italian Prime Minister for failing to fulfil the pledges made at the 2005 Gleneagles G8 summit on aid to Africa. And as Berlusconi prepares to welcome world leaders to this week’s summit in L’Aquila, Pope Benedict too is piling on the pressure.
While other nations have given more than they promised in 2005 (Japan has increased its aid by 150 per cent, and the Canadians by 200 per cent), and most other countries are on track to keep their pledges, Italy is going backwards, with aid from the Foreign Ministry being cut by 56 per cent.
In the background, there is pressure for Italy to be expelled from the group of eight and for its place at the top table to be given instead to Spain.
All of this comes on top of the chaos surrounding the summit in Italy which Berlusconi insisted on moving from Sardinia, where plans were well advanced, to the quake-damaged town of L’Aquila where workmen are racing to get a converted police barracks ready for his guests.
Source: AHU – David A-O