Rome, Dec 16 (IANS/AKI) Massimo Tartaglia, the man held responsible for the attack on Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi Sunday may not have been operating on his own, a member of Berlusconi’s People of Freedom coalition has claimed.
Andrea Di Sorte has told AKI that the attacker may have been handed the souvenir replica of the Milan cathedral that he apparently used to attack the premier.

“Right before the attacker hurled the statuette against Berlusconi, I saw that there was someone behind him… as if he was waving to grab something from someone that I obviously did not see,” said Andrea Di Sorte, coordinator of the Liberta Club, a political organisation affiliated with Berlusconi’s coalition.

“I thought I saw that he was grabbing something, because I had friends who were there near the barrier and I was worried that they could greet the president of the council of ministers (Berlusconi),” he said.

“Then I saw a piece of nylon, as if this thing was wrapped around it,” he said.

“When the attacker was captured by police, what came to my mind was what he said after being arrested: ‘I am alone, I am alone, there is no one behind me’. But I had the feeling that someone gave him something.”

Tartaglia, 42, is an electrical engineer who is reported to have mental health problems. Both he and his family have said consistently that he acted alone and he has no known political affiliations or links to extremist groups.

Berlusconi is being treated for a broken nose, two broken teeth and other facial injuries in Milan’s San Raffaele hospital after being attacked at the political rally in the northern city late Sunday.

Doctors have said he will take three weeks to recover from his injuries.

–IANS/AKI

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