Berlusconi senior aide detained in Beirut: report April 12, 2014 - 17:30 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Police detained former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's senior aide in Beirut over an Interpol arrest warrant, The Daily Star reported, citing a security source. Members of the Internal Security Forces Information Branch arrested the man identified as Marcello Dell’Utri in a Beirut neighborhood on charges of forming a mafia, the source said Saturday, April 12. Berlusconi and Dell’Utri have denied links to the mafia. Dell’Utri, 72, had reportedly fled to Beirut and was expected to head to Africa to escape trial for working as a go between for the Sicilian Mafia and the Milan business elite. According to the Telegraph, Dell’Utri founded Berlusconi’s Forza Italia party with him in the early 1990s and became a senator in the party. On Friday, Dell’Utri issued a statement, saying he was overseas to obtain medical treatment and was not escaping justice. Rome declared him a fugitive on April 8 after reports said he was in Lebanon. The State Prosecution office is expected to communicate with Italian authorities over the issue through the Interpol office in Beirut. "He was captured and is now in a Lebanese police office," Interior Minister Angelino Alfano, a former Berlusconi ally who broke with the centre-right leader last year, told Reuters. "His capture was obviously connected to an extradition procedure that the Italian government, through the justice ministry, will activate immediately," Alfano added.  Top stories The embassy staff were evacuated to neighboring Tunisia "due to the ongoing violence, the U.S. State Department said. Another 10,000 fled Mosul after ISIS took control at the beginning of June and numbers dropped have fallen rapidly since. The announcement comes just two days after President Abdullah Gül confirmed that he would not seek a second term. In the report, the Observatory said its activists on the ground have the names of 5,641 rebels who have been killed in infighting.   Partner news |  Latest news Sony reports surprise eightfold jump in quarterly profit  Analysts surveyed by FactSet had forecast a loss. Quarterly sales climbed nearly 6 percent to 1.81 trillion yen ($17.6 billion).Argentina defaults for second time in 13 years "Unfortunately, no agreement was reached and the Republic of Argentina will imminently be in default," Daniel Pollack said.Two Karabakh soldiers killed in Azeri attack The attack was rebuffed, with the rivals suffering heavy losses. Investigation is under way, the army’s press office said.Ani, abandoned city of 1000 churches: News.com.au Ani lay on several trade routes and grew to become a walled city of more than 100,000 residents by the 11th century. |
