Na ophef in Libië: Italiaanse minister treedt af vanwege cartoon t-shirt (en)

The Italian minister who wore a T-shirt depicting one of the Danish carricatures of Mohammed on TV, resigned over the weekend after being blamed for violent riots outside the Italian consulate in Libya.

Some ten people were killed in the Libyan city of Benghazi last Friday (17 February) in riots believed to have been triggered by Roberto Calderoli's T-shirt display.

Mr Calderoli, who belongs to the Lega Nord party, last week also said fellow Italians could order the T-shirt from his office.

Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi urged the reform minister to resign, as a minister can only be fired by his own party according to the Italian constitution.

Until this weekend, minister Calderoli stood by his statement and refused to step down, saying "my T-shirt represents a battle for freedom."

Following the lethal protests in Libya, the reform minister on Saturday decided to leave his post however, while repeating he would continue to sell the controversial T-shirts.

Mr Calderoli said he resigned due to a "sense of responsibility, and not because [he was] asked by the government and opposition."

"Rather than give up a single millimetre of what I believe in, I don't have the slightest problem in leaving a job for which people would normally go so far as to sell their souls to the devil just to get it and keep it," he told Lega Nord's newspaper "La Padania."

Ministers in Italy said Mr Calderoli had to resign "for the security of Italy," referring to terrorist threats against the country ahead of general elections in April, as well as against Italian soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, La Repubblica writes.

Minister Calderoli's choice of T-shirt has caused ripples in Brussels as well, where Lega Nord representatives in the European Parliament have been given an ultimatum by their political faction, the Independence/Democracy group (IND/DEM).

A formal vote among all group members is set for next Tuesday, with two third of votes needed to exclude the Italian party from the group.