Berlusconi addresses US Congress

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, on a trip geared to help his re-election prospects at home, told the US Congress yesterday that fissures in the US-European alliance over the Iraq war must be patched to spread democracy and stem terrorism.

After he drew effusive praise from President George W. Bush on Tuesday, the Republican-led Congress gave Berlusconi the rare opportunity to address a joint meeting of Congress, with Mr Bush's Cabinet in attendance. Some Democrats, however, chafed at the event.

These Democrats were slow to arrive or send aides in their place, which a House of Representatives Democratic aide attributed partly to irritation at being called to an event they viewed as a campaign booster for Berlusconi and his center-right coalition. "It was very odd that the Democrats showed such a lack of enthusiasm when millions of Americans are of Italian descent and the country is a major ally of the United States," a House Republican aide said.

Berlusconi, who trails slightly in the polls behind center-left leader Romano Prodi, said it was "absolutely necessary, indeed fundamental to sustain and reinvigorate the Atlantic Alliance, the alliance that for more than half a century has guaranteed peace in liberty."

He warned against a "fortress Europe" mentality, and said "disagreement, or worse, opposition between the United States and Europe would be entirely unjustified and would jeopardise the security and prosperity of the entire world."