Man arrested outside Berlusconi hospital room

A YOUNG man with mental problems managed yesterday to reach the hospital floor where Premier Silvio Berlusconi was recovering from an attack, and police were questioning him, authorities said.

A Milan anti-terrorism police official said the man “wanted to pay a visit on the premier at 2am” yesterday and made it to the entrance of the seventh floor of Milan’s San Raffaele Hospital where Berlusconi, 73, was being treated.

Police overpowered the intruder.

“He was coming out of the lift when bodyguards and police immobilised him immediately,” a spokesman said.

Police questioned the 26-year-old Turin man at Milan police headquarters but planned to release him, saying he apparently is a supporter of the premier. A search of the man’s parked car found “hockey sticks and kitchen knives,” the official said. The suspect apparently plays hockey, but he will be cited for transporting the knives without justification, the official said.

The man, whose identity was not immediately released, was unarmed when he reached the seventh floor, the official said.

Berlusconi was struck in the face with a statuette on Sunday night as he signed autographs at a rally in Milan. The attack broke his nose and two teeth and cut his lips. Police said the attacker, Massimo Tartaglia, a Milan man suffering years of psychological problems, has been detained.

The attack, which shocked Italians, came as Berlusconi is fending off a sex scandal and legal troubles that have led to what he calls a “climate of hatred” against him.

Berlusconi’s injuries have stirred public sympathy — but also spite. Groups praising Berlusconi’s assailant mushroomed on Facebook in the aftermath of the attack.

Berlusconi’s spokesman, Paolo Bonaiuti, said his boss enjoyed receiving a phone call from President Barack Obama.

The spokesman said Berlusconi’s pain had “sharpened” a bit, and that an old neck problem was also causing him pain.