Italy's defence minister Ignazio La Russa speaks with a microphone as he carries an Italian national flag during a rally of the centre-right Popolo della Liberta (PDL People Freedom Party) in Rome March 20, 2010. Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi led the rally in Rome on Saturday...

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Defence minister Ignazio La Russa attends a pre-electoral rally of the center-right party 'Popolo della Liberta' (PDL) on March 20, 2010 in Rome. PDL President Silvio Berlusconi has said the elections in 13 of Italy's 20 regions on March 28 and 29 will be a key barometer of his...

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Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi (L) and defence minister Ignazio La Russa listen during a press conference at the end of a ministers' council on March 12, 2010 in Rome. The Italian prime minister, fighting tumbling popularity ratings has referred a few days before to the March...

Italy's defence minister and coordinator of the Popolo della Liberta (People of Freedom) party Ignazio La Russa (L) argues with freelance journalist Rocco Carlomagno, who shouted questions without waiting his turn to speak, during a news conference by Italy's Prime Minister and President...

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BOLOGNA, ITALY - NOVEMBER 21: Italian defence minister Ignazio La Russa during the Serie A match between Bologna and Inter Milan at Stadio Renato Dall'Ara on November 21, 2009 in Bologna, Italy.

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ARLINGTON, VA - OCTOBER 13: U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates (R) shakes hands with Italian Minister of Defense Ignazio La Russa (L) during an honor cordon October 13, 2009 at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. Six Italian soldiers were killed in Afghanistan in September and the...

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PISA, ITALY - NOVEMBER 28: Italian Defense Minister Ignazio La Russa attends the funerals of the five victims of the C-130 Hercules plane crash in the Cathedral on November 28, 2009 in Pisa, Italy. All five soldiers were killed when the military plane in which they were being...

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PISA, ITALY - NOVEMBER 28: Italian Defense Minister Ignazio La Russa and the Chief of the Italian Air Force General Daniele Tei during the funerals of the five victims of the C-130 Hercules plane crash in Pisa Cathedral on November 28, 2009 in Pisa, Italy. All five soldiers were killed...

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BOLOGNA, ITALY - NOVEMBER 21: Francesca Menarini President of Bologna FC meets Italian defence minister Ignazio La Russa during the Serie A match between Bologna and Inter Milan at Stadio Renato Dall'Ara on November 21, 2009 in Bologna, Italy.

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MILAN, ITALY - NOVEMBER 09: (R-L) Minister of Defence Ignazio La Russa, Minister of Youth Giorgia Meloni and Mayor of Milan Letizia Moratti attend the presentation of 'Freedom', at the Palazzo Reale on November 9, 2009 in Milan, Italy.'Freedom' is an installation commemorating the 20th...

Italy's President Giorgio Napolitano (R) reviews an honour guard with Italian Defence Minister Ignazio La Russa (L) during their visit to the Italian United Nations Interim Forces (UNIFIL) base in Shamaa village, southern Lebanon November 3, 2009.

Italy's Defence Minister Ignazio La Russa talks to reporters at a NATO defence ministers' meeting in Brussels in this June 11, 2009 file photo. Italy's government denied a report on Thursday that it paid off Taliban commanders and Afghan warlords, potentially costing the lives of French...

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US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates (R) greets Italian Defense Minister Ignazio La Russa at the Pentagon on October 13, 2009 in Washington, DC.

Italian Minister of Defense Ignazio La Russa (R) greets New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan as he marches as an honored guest in the annual Columbus Day Parade up Fifth Avenue in New York, October 12, 2009.

Italian Minister of Defense Ignazio La Russa waves to the crowd as he marches as an honored guest in the annual Columbus Day Parade up Fifth Avenue in New York October 12, 2009.

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Italian defence Minister Ignazio La Russa (L), Italian President Giorgio Napolitano (R), and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi (2nd R) pay their respects at the Unknown Soldier's monument in Rome, on April 25, 2009, during celebrations marking the 64th anniversary of the Italian...

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Italian Defense Minister Ignazio La Russa gestures during a "Question Time" session in the Italian Senate on the deployment of the country's armed forces in Afghanistan, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2009.

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ROME - SEPTEMBER 21: President of the Italian Republic Giorgio Napolitano (C) and Italian Defense Minister Ignazio La Russa (L) comfort relatives of the six Italian soldiers of the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) killed in Kabul during a state funeral at the...

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Italian Defense Minister Ignazio La Russa, standing at bottom, addresses the Italian Low Chamber of Parliament on the attack to the Italian military convoy in Kabul that killed six Italian soldiers and 10 Afghan civilians, Thursday, Sept. 17, 2009.

AP Photo 6 months ago

Rome Mayor Gianni Alemanno, second from left, his wife Isabella Rauti, first from left, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, second from right, and Italian Defence Minister Ignazio La Russa attend a ceremony to commemorate the Sept. 11, 2001 victims, in Rome, Friday, Sept. 11, 2009.

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ROME - SEPTEMBER 09: Italian defense minister Ignazio La Russa (C, rear) and young supporters attend the opening of the first national meeting of the young people of the PDL (People of Freedom), at which Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi spoke, on September 9, 2009 in Rome, Italy.

Defence Minister Ignazio La Russa speaks to reporters at a military coordination headquarters in Rome September 4, 2009.

Italy's military chief of staff General Vincenzo Camporini (R) watches as Defence Minister Ignazio La Russa speaks to reporters at a military coordination headquarters in Rome September 4, 2009.

Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi (R) and Defence Minister Ignazio La Russa arrive at a military coordination headquarters in Rome September 4, 2009.

AP Photo 8 months ago

Italian Lower Chamber President Gianfranco Fini, left, and Italian Defense Minister Ignazio La Russa, right, walk near the coffin containing the body of Italian soldier Alessandro Di Lisio at Ciampino military airport, in the outskirts of Rome Thursday, July 16, 2009. Di Lisio, 25, was...