PM Berlusconi in the hospital after being struck in the face

Berlusconi, 73, was placed under observation at Milan's San Raffaele hospital, Berlusconi spokesman Paolo Bonaiuti said. The premier did not lose consciousness; he has a fractured tooth and a broken nose.

Berlusconi “woke up this morning and asked for today's newspapers to be brought to his room,” Paolo Klun, head of communication at San Raffaele, said in an interview. A press release on his medical condition will be issued at noon today, Klun said.

Television news programs showed images of a bloodied Berlusconi with cuts and gashes on his face, his nose swollen. An eyewitness interviewed by Sky TG24 television said the attacker may have hit Berlusconi with a metal statuette.

“For months there has been a campaign of hatred against Berlusconi,” said Defense Minister Ignazio la Russa, who was with the prime minister at the time of the attack.

Angry Supporters

Police are holding a man identified as Massimo Tartaglia, 42, in connection with the incident, Ansa news agency reported. Tartaglia's arrest saved him from being “lynched” by the crowd of Berlusconi supporters, La Russa said. Tartaglia has been receiving treatment for mental problems at a Milan clinic for the past 10 years, Ansa reported. He did not attempt to flee after the attack, Sky said.

“This is the result of the climate of hatred we now have in Italy,” Roberto Formigoni, president of the Lombardy region, where Milan is located, and a member of Berlusconi's party, told Sky TG24 in an interview today.

“Berlusconi cannot consider himself a victim,” Rosy Bindi, chairman of the opposition Democratic Party, told La Stampa in an interview today. “He is among the creators of this climate.”

The attack was an “insane act, that we need to condemn,” said Antonio Di Pietro, a former magistrate and leader of another opposition party, Italian Values. “But it's another thing entirely discussing the faults of a government which contributes to a climate of hate.”

Berlusconi was moving through the crowd after a speech in the central square in front of Milan's gothic cathedral when he was struck. The Milan rally came a week after thousands of protesters marched through Rome calling for Berlusconi's resignation.

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