Berlusconi insists he is 'friend of Jews, Germans'
Italy's Silvio Berlusconi insisted he is a friend of Jewish people and Germany on Monday in a bid to quell international outrage sparked by his controversial remarks about the Holocaust.
The former premier said he was "a historic friend of the Jewish people and the state of Israel" and it was "surreal to attribute to me anti-German sentiment or a presumed hostility towards the German people, to whom I am a friend."
The statement came after an international outcry over his claim on Saturday that Germans denied the existence of Nazi concentration camps. (AFP)
