Our man in Rome brands Bush 'al-Qaeda recruiting sergeant'

THE government was drawn into a diplomatic row with the United States and Italy last night, after a senior British ambassador described President George Bush as "the best recruiting sergeant for al-Qaeda".

Sir Ivor Roberts, the British ambassador in Rome, made the extraordinary comment during a weekend meeting of politicians and journalists.

His remarks were designed to be off-the-record but they proved so explosive that Italy's leading newspaper, Corriere della Sera, decided to breach the rule and publish them.

Corriere reported Sir Ivor as saying: "George W Bush is the best recruiting sergeant for al-Qaeda. If there is anyone ready to celebrate his eventual re-election it is al-Qaeda, while it’s clear that the Palestinians hope that a Kerry victory will help unblock the situation."

The Corriere reporter, Moncia Guerzoni, added that Sir Ivor also said that the Bush administration was "conditioned and pressured by groups of powerful Israelis".

Sir Ivor last night issued a short statement via Britain’s Foreign Office in London which said: "These remarks as reported do not reflect my personal views."

The Foreign Office, meanwhile, stressed that Sir Ivor had made the remarks at a private meeting and did not expect to be reported.

But by last night, the furore over the controversial comments had escalated into a diplomatic row between Britain, Italy and the US.

A senior administration official at the White House made it clear that the Bush administration took a dim view of Sir Ivor’s comments.

He told The Scotsman: "I would not consider it proper diplomatic discourse, but they are not comments which would merit a response." Another senior Republican, who is close to the Bush administration, said that George Bush was al-Qaeda’s greatest enemy and the Italians should be told that.

As pressure mounted on Sir Ivor to make a full apology, it emerged that his remarks had prompted one Italian newspaper editor, Giuliano Ferrara of Il Foglio, to pull out of a dinner at Sir Ivor’s official residence in Rome.

The comments will come as a particular embarrassment to Tony Blair, who has been the biggest ally of Mr Bush in his war on terror and in Iraq. They are also particularly sensitive given that the British government is trying to secure the release of a British hostage, Kenneth Bigley, who was captured in Baghdad last week along with two Americans, one of whom was reported last night to have been executed by his captors.

The remarks also threaten to damage relations between Mr Blair and Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian prime minister. Mr Blair spent part of his summer holiday this year at Mr Berlusconi’s villa in Sardinia and the two leaders have a surprisingly close relationship.

The Foreign Office refused to comment on Sir Ivor’s remarks but said it was not policy to describe the US president in that way.

However, a Foreign Office source confirmed that the comments had been made and added: "It was a Chatham House occasion and the ambassador was not expected to be quoted on this. It is all rather unfortunate. We’re not going to be calling him back to the Foreign Office to rebuke him in this case. Had he said these things on the record in a speech then we might be in a different situation."

Sir Ivor, 58, made his comments behind closed doors to a British-Italian think-tank on terrorism, where guests included Chris Patten, former governor of Hong Kong, and Neil Kinnock, former Labour leader.