Italian senator: US should send Iran nukes by mail

Right-wing Italian senator says if Iran is so keen on nukes, Bush should send Ahmadinejad a nuclear bomb by airmail for his birthday

Nir Magal|Published: 09.07.06 , 12:08

An Italian senator suggested on Wednesday that President George W. Bush should send Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a nuclear bomb by airmail as a birthday present, the La Republica newspaper reported.

"I don't know when Ahmadinejad's birthday is but if he is so interested in nuclear bombs why does the United States not send him one for his birthday? Maybe by airmail," said Roberto Calderoli, a member of the separatist, right-leaning Northern League party.

Calderoli, a former minister in prime minister Silvio Berlusconi's government, said Ahmadinejad is the natural successor of Osama Bin Laden, should the al-Qaeda leader be killed.

"I completely share President Bush's evaluation of Ahmadinejad, because it is evident that the successor, given that he in question is not already dead, of Osama Bin Laden cannot be anyone but him," he said.

Carderoli's comments came in response to remarks by US President George W. Bush, who said Ahamdinejad is a tyrant.

The politician added: "Allah willing, he will have fatwa at his disposal, but he does not have a bomb, while Bush has many. I have decided to send one of my t-shirts with cartoons to Bush because he is one of the few serious people who exist in this world, because he understood the risk that comes from someone who, using religion, wants to start a crusade, even if in this case we are speaking about crusades in the opposite sense."

'I will send Bush my t-shirt'

Calderoli was forced to resign his ministerial post in February for wear a shirt on which he had imprinted controversial Danish cartoons depicting Prophet Mohammad wearing a bomb-like turban.

His acts sparked a violent demonstration in Libya, a former Italian colony, where 11 Muslim demonstrators were killed in clashes with police outside the Italian Embassy in Tripoli.

"I will send him (Bush) my t-shirt, the original from the infamous TV broadcast, because although I see myself as a grain of sand in comparison to the president of the United States, I maintain that I tried to do my bit in the battle which he has been waging for years. Bush's merit must be recognized, compared to all those before him, he fights not only for oil and world hegemony, but also for his ideals, even at the cost of putting into question consensus in his relations at home," Calderoli.