Italy's 'missing' invitation

While Europe's main leaders met in France to commemorate the D-Day landings, Italians yesterday smarted over their failure to garner an invitation and what it meant for Silvio Berlusconi's relations with European allies.

Mr Berlusconi was the main omission among European leaders at yesterday's 60th anniversary D-Day commemorations. US President George W. Bush, Britain's Tony Blair, Germany's Gerhard Schroeder and Russia's Vladimir Putin were all attending at the invitation of French President Jacques Chirac.

"It is evident he wasn't wanted: this is the snapshot of relations between (Mr) Berlusconi and the rest of Europe," Massimo D'Alema, head of the Democrats of the Left party, said.

Mr Berlusconi shrugged off his not-invited status on Saturday, saying he had gone one better by having Mr Bush all to himself during the US president's two-day visit to Italy marking the liberation of Rome by American troops six decades ago.

"The French have made a territorial choice, in the way we invited only the United States because only the Americans freed Rome," Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said yesterday.