Mussolini quits party after leader calls fascism 'evil'

[arcos]

Mussolini quits party after leader calls fascism 'evil'

Alessandra Mussolini, the granddaughter of the Italian dictator, left the country's far-right party yesterday, claiming its leader was betraying his memory.

Her resignation hints at the gravity of the changes taking place in the National Alliance, the second biggest group in Silvio Berlusconi's coalition government. On a visit to Israel this week, its leader, the deputy prime minister, Gianfranco Fini, appalled many of his followers by denouncing fascism and its founder.

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His remarks have gone beyond anything Mr Berlusconi has said. The prime minister recently stood up for Mussolini by saying the dictator who sent more than 6,000 Jews to their deaths in Nazi concentration camps "never killed anyone".

Ms Mussolini said she was resigning "because there have been incompatibilities not so much with my politics as with the surname I carry". She said she would remain in parliament as an independent.

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/italy/story/0,12576,1095233,00.html