"Mussolini Never Killed Anyone, Berlusconi Says"

Japan Today, Sept. 12, 2003

ROME - Italy's outspoken Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi unleashed new
controversy Thursday, declaring that the former fascist dictator Benito
Mussolini did not kill anyone, just sent them on holiday.
"Mussolini never killed anyone. Mussolini used to send people on holiday
within the borders of the country," Berlusconi was quoted as telling the
Voce di Rimini newspaper.
His comment immediately triggered outrage in Italy, with some claiming it
was an apology for fascism and embarrassed his coalition partners, even
though Berlusconi said he had not intended to rewrite his country's history."These are shameful remarks," said the leader of the country's main
left-wing opposition party Piero Fassino.
Mussolini's fascist blackshirts ruled Italy between 1922 and 1943 before he
was executed at the end of World War II.
The remarks came in the second instalment of a long interview Berlusconi
gave to two British journalists, including Boris Johnson, editor of the
Spectator, a London-based weekly.
The first instalment caused a scandal last week when Berlusconi said some
Italian magistrates were "mentally deranged."

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