(1) ITALY'S LARGEST ENERGY PRODUCER DISCLOSES GAS DISCOVERY
(2) AFTER A 60-YEAR SILENCE, GERMANY APOLOGIZES FOR NAZI CRIMES 
(3) PRIME MINISTER OFFERS TO HOST MIDDLE EAST PEACE NEGOTIATIONS 
(4) AFGHAN PRIME MINISTER IN ROME TO THANK ITALY FOR ITS EFFORTS 

RAA NOTE: These latter two items seem to be part of a concerted continuing 
effort by Berlusconi to "position" Italy as a more "equal" partner of the EU. 

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(1) ITALY'S LARGEST ENERGY PRODUCER DISCLOSES GAS DISCOVERY

The ENI group, Italy's largest producer of oil and gas, announced that the 
company has located a large accumulation of natural gas at approximately 460 
meters (1,500 feet) below the Sicily Channel. 

In a joint venture with British Gas Italy and Edison Gas, the Italian energy 
group has been drilling offshore from the island of Sicily. Explorations from 
a well-dubbed "Panda I" revealed the vast gas deposit, a supply that is 
estimated to contain anywhere between 9-12 billion cubic meters of natural 
gas. 

The companies are planning a second exploratory drilling well in the area.  
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(2) AFTER A 60-YEAR SILENCE, GERMANY APOLOGIZES FOR NAZI CRIMES 

German President Johannes Rau arrived in Italy for an official four-day 
visit. He is expected to discuss a Nazi massacre committed against Italian 
civilians at the end of World War II and will be the first postwar German 
leader to do so. 

Accompanied by Italian president Carlo Azegli Ciampi, the German head of 
state will visit the most poignant site of the cluster of Italian villages in 
the hills south of Bologna where the massacre that killed over 700 civilians, 
including 200 children, took place. 

As a sign of reconciliation and an admonishment to not forget the past, 
Germany's president will commemorate the victims in a long-delayed act of 
reconciliation visiting the San Martino church of Marzabotto, where dozens of 
people were locked in and killed in cold blood.
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(3) PRIME MINISTER OFFERS TO HOST MIDDLE EAST PEACE NEGOTIATIONS 

Italy has offered to host the Middle East peace negotiations to resolve the 
current Arab-Israeli crisis. Premier Silvio Berlusconi declared that his 
initiative was received positively by the international community. 

In the meantime, the conservative leader held a meeting with the Israeli 
ambassador to Italy, Ehud Gol, in which the two discussed the outcome of the 
recent meeting between foreign ministers of the European Union in Luxembourg. 
 
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(4) AFGHAN PRIME MINISTER IN ROME TO THANK ITALY FOR ITS EFFORTS 

Hamid Karzai, Afghanistan's chosen interim leader after the fall of the 
Taliban regime, arrived in Italy on Tuesday for an official visit. The 
temporary leader of Afghanistan's government expressed his delight in being 
able to accompany his country's former king Mohammad Zahir Shah back to 
Kabul. Mr. Karzai declared, "It is a new Afghanistan that welcomes all of its 
sons, including its former king, who is a father-figure and symbol of the 
country's unity." 

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi met with his Afghan counterpart at 
Palazzo Chigi late Tuesday afternoon, during which Mr. Karzai profoundly 
thanked Italy for its part in aiding Afghanistan. Today, the 20 
member-delegation returns to Afghanistan, accompanying its former monarch on 
his return to his native country after an exile of more than three decades.