Minister refuses to resign over Prophet T-shirt

A Cabinet minister resisted calls for his resignation today, after his decision to wear a T-shirt featuring cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad was blamed for sparking deadly clashes at an Italian consulate in Libya.

Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi had asked for Reforms Minister Roberto Calderoli to resign late yesterday, when the Italian consulate in the city of Benghazi was set on fire and besieged by hundreds of protesters incensed at the cartoons.