Fans of Berlusconi reveal Nobel intent

A group of admirers is planning to propose Italy's controversial prime minister for the Nobel peace prize, citing Silvio Berlusconi's foreign policy achievements and his concern for the plight of the poor.

The initiative has the support of academics, senior church figures and politicians, and the proposal will be formally submitted at the end of the month, its chief proponent said yesterday.

The billionaire media magnate, who is on trial for corruption in Milan, deserves the honour (awarded previously to Yasser Arafat, Shimon Peres and Henry Kissinger) because of his sterling work for peace in the Middle East, Antonio Gentile, a senator for Mr Berlusconi's Forza Italia party, said.

Mr Gentile said Mr Berlusconi's call for a new Marshall Plan to address the economic problems of the Palestinian people, his successful mediation in the siege of Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity last May and his efforts to promote a rapprochement between Nato and Russia were all signs of his statesman-like service to the cause of peace.

"These were three strong international initiatives," Mr Gentile said. "For the first time Italy has assumed the role of a protagonist on the international stage and it is all the merit of Berlusconi."

Supporters of the initiative, who plan to collect endorsements on a new website, also cite Mr Berlusconi's chairmanship of the world food summit in Rome in June and the generosity of his government in forgiving third world debt.

After little more than a year in office, Mr Berlusconi clearly feels at home in the company of world leaders. He was using his influence on his friend George Bush to discourage a unilateral American attack on Iraq, he told reporters at the world summit in Johannesburg. The stability of his government had already enabled him to develop close personal friendships with G8 leaders.

"I manage to find the right compliment for everyone, the right encouragement," he confided.

But Antonio Di Pietro, an MP who investigated Mr Berlusconi as one of Milan's anti-corruption prosecutors, said the prime minister deserved a Nobel prize for lying. "Our country is ridiculed abroad thanks to Silvio Berlusconi. That, unfortunately, is the bitter truth," he said.