Berlusconi: it's me who sent Dell'Utri to Lebanon, to help Amine Gemayel, because Vladimir Putin asked me to do so.

Sunday, 13 April 2014. The mystery around the disappearance of Berlusconi's aide Marcello Dell'Utri gets more and more mysterious, as the fugitive is backed up by the former prime minister (who - in turn - says the idea was Vladimir Putin's...).

The first news to hit the headlines was that in the run up to a definitive sentence regarding the accusations of links to the Sicilian Mafia, prosecutors weren't able to locate Berlusconi's long-time friend and aide Mr Dell'Utri, and therefore he was declared “fugitive” by the Italian magistrates.

Marcello Dell'Utri and Berlusconi: 

Then Dell'Utri's mobile phone was traced in Beirut, even though his lawyers issued a statement (last Friday) saying that he never went to Lebanon, he was in France, and he never meant to escape, he was just being cured (underwent a angioplasty surgery).


Finally it did turn out that the former Sicilian senator (I mean he was a senator, but he still is a Sicilian) was indeed in Beirut, as the local authorities arrested him in a 5-star luxury hotel in Lebanon's capital, the InterContinental Phoenicia. He was in bed and had a large sum of money. 

The news was given by the another Sicilian Angelino Alfano, Italian Minister of the Interior, former ally of Berlusconi and sworn enemy of the above mentioned Marcello Dell'Utri (see our article on their fight).

Finally Berlusconi spoke, apparently to a few members of his party Forza Italia, and said «Marcello [Dell’Ultri] is in Lebanon and it was me who sent him there,» adding that the reason for sending man indicted of being connected to the Mafia was because «[Russian President] Vladimir Putin has asked me to back the campaign of Amine Gemayel.», of the Kataeb Party.

Summarizing: Putin wants Amine Gemayel to win the elections in Lebanon, for some reasons, and the most brilliant idea he has to reach the goal is to give a phone call to his good friend Berlusconi, who sends there a 72-year old chap (who is allegedly in touch with the Sicilian Mafia) to get the job done.

How about that for an international intrigue?