Italian Foreign Minster Franco Frattini said on Monday that Rome was also prepared to increase its presence in Afghanistan from the current 3, 200.

BBC: Barack Obama issues new Afghanistan military orders

That evening, the Secretary-General attended a gala dinner, held at the Castello di Miramare and hosted by Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini, for the G-8 and Quartet Ministers.

UN: Secretary-General

His foreign minister, Franco Frattini, is one plausible candidate.

ECONOMIST: Buttiglione backs out | The

As a prosecutor in Sicily began investigating the incident, Italy's foreign minister, Franco Frattini, outraged the Maltese government by suggesting that it should limit Malta's territorial waters because it could not patrol them properly.

ECONOMIST: Illegal migration to Italy