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From: Bart (129.171.32.13)
Subject: British ambassador says Bush is "the best recruiting sergeant" for al Queda (duh...)
Date: September 20, 2004 at 5:17 am PST

British Envoy to Italy Stirs Waters with Bush Barb

ROME (Reuters) - Britain's ambassador to Italy has called President Bush (news - web sites) "the best recruiting sergeant" for al Qaeda, Italian media reported Monday.

The comment, made at a closed-door conference at the weekend, was denounced by one leading Italian newspaper editor, who issued an open letter snubbing the veteran ambassador, Sir Ivor Roberts.

Roberts was quoted as telling an annual Anglo-Italian gathering in Tuscany: "If anyone is ready to celebrate the eventual re-election of Bush, it's al Qaeda."

Corriere della Sera newspaper said Roberts also told the meeting of British and Italian policy-makers: "Bush is al Qaeda's best recruiting sergeant."

The British embassy in Rome declined to comment about the remarks, saying the Tuscan conference had been covered by the so-called Chatham House Rules, which means that anything said by delegates should remain off the record.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair (news - web sites) is President Bush's strongest ally in Europe.

Giuliano Ferrara, outspoken editor of the conservative Il Foglio broadsheet, wrote an open letter saying he would boycott a previously scheduled dinner with the ambassador Monday.

"The dinner unfortunately would be a complete waste of time and a grotesque hypocrisy," he said.

Ferrara added that he would prefer to have supper with the French ambassador to Italy "who loyally represents in Rome Mr Jacques Chirac."

Ferrara is a fervent supporter of the U.S.-led war on Iraq (news - web sites).

Roberts was British ambassador to Yugoslavia in the mid-1990s, helping negotiations between the international community and Yugoslav authorities. He then served as British ambassador to Ireland before his Italian posting.

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