Wanted ex-Italian PM Aide Detained in Beirut

Internal Security Forces arrested in Beirut on Saturday an Italian national who is wanted by the Interpol for belonging to a “criminal organization.”

"The Intelligence Bureau arrested Marcello Dell'Utri in a hotel in Beirut,” the ISF said in a released statement.

The ISF said that Dell'Utri, who is an Italian national, has an international arrest warrant against him issued by the Interpol.

He is accused of belonging to an international organization.

Earlier in the day media reports said security forces detained Dell'Utri, who is an aide for former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

According to MTV, Berlusconi's longtime political ally was detained in Beirut at the request of Interpol on mafia collusion charges.

The channel reported that the suspect is being questioned by the ISF Intelligence Bureau under the supervision of the general prosecution.

The Italian anti-mafia prosecutor's office said Friday a warrant for Marcello Dell'Utri was issued on Tuesday and police have been searching for him since then.

"He is unreachable," it said in a statement.

A spokesman for the prosecutors told Agence France Presse that Dell'Utri had still not been officially declared a fugitive but the authorities "have begun procedures" to seek his arrest internationally, although he said this would take time.

Dell'Utri himself issued a statement in which he did not reveal where he was but said that he had "no intention" of escaping arrest and was undergoing medical checks because of poor health.

The disappearance caused outrage in the political world, with far-leftist and former prosecutor Ignazio Ingroia saying that "allowing Dell'Utri to flee abroad was shameful and indecent for a civilized country".

The legal case against Dell'Utri has dragged on for two decades and is headed for a definitive ruling from the Supreme Court on April 15 after multiple appeals.

Prosecutors said they ordered his arrest this week because Dell'Utri, who has been a free man despite his trials, was only now considered a flight risk.

Italian media said that a bugged conversation between Dell'Utri's brother and a family friend contained in the arrest warrant revealed that the ex-senator was planning to flee to Lebanon and could even be issued with a diplomatic passport by Guinea Bissau.

Dell'Utri headed up the advertising arm of Berlusconi's media business empire and helped his political debut with the foundation of the Forza Italia (Go Italy) party in the early 1990s.

H.K. / S.D.B.