Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini on Wednesday criticised protestors who burned American flags and said it was wrong to accuse President George W, Bush of ''having blood on his hands''.
Speaking to Italian television ahead of Bush's arrival in Rome on Wednesday, Frattini said that such actions ''seek to deny the leadership, not only military but moral and democratic, of the USA''.
The US, he observed, ''remains the symbol of democracy even when wrong because it has the ability to correct its mistakes through the democratic process''.
Frattini also said that no matter who wins the November US elections, whether it be Democrat Barak Obama or Republican John McCain, ''the United States will remain Italy's chief international ally''.
''And Italy's commitment to the Atlantic Alliance will not change. In fact, we are committed to boosting our role both within NATO and in the most important missions abroad,'' the foreign minister added.
Looking at the upcoming American elections, Frattini observed that ''the attention the whole world is paying to this vote demonstrates once and for all that the United States remains an extraordinary democracy capable of tackling concrete issues''.
Bush is current on a farewell tour of Europe and will meet Thursday with President Giorgio Napolitano and Premier Silvio Berlusconi, while on Friday he will go to the Vatican to see Pope Benedict XVI before leaving the Italian capital.
