Silly Silvio: a history of Berlusconi gaffes

SILVIO BERLUSCONI has a history of speaking his mind, often landing him in trouble.

For example:

September 26, 2001: At a news conference in Berlin, Berlusconi said Western civilisation was superior to Islam breaking ranks with the United States and other allies when they were trying to reach out to the Muslim world after the September 11 attacks.

Western leaders distanced themselves from the remarks, and the Muslim world demanded an apology.

Mr Berlusconi insisted he was misquoted, and his office denied he ever made the comments, even though they were taped. He eventually apologised.

December 2001: During an EU summit in Belgium, Mr Berlusconi tried to lobby for the Italian city of Parma to house a new EU food safety agency, against competition from Finland, which wanted the agency headquartered in Helsinki.

"Parma is synonymous with good cuisine. The Finns don't even know what prosciutto is. I cannot accept this," he said.

It was ultimately agreed the agency would have two units, a headquarters in Helsinki and a smaller unit in

Parma.

February 8, 2002: Mr Berlusconi clowned around at an EU summit in Spain, flashing a hand signal behind the head of Spanish foreign minister Josep Pique in a photo.

Later he broke into Mr Pique's news conference and noisily tapped on his watch to signal he was hungry.