(5 Jan 2002)
Rome - June 11, 2001
1. Renato Ruggiero approaches table, reads oath and shakes hands at cabinet swearing-in ceremony at Quirinal palace, the president's official residence
Rome - July 18, 2001
2. Ruggiero arrives at G8 conference of foreign ministers in Rome
Geneva, Switzerland - December 13, 1997
3. Ruggiero speaking to media at World Trade Organisation(WTO) conference in his capacity as WTO Director General
4. Ruggerio speaking with U.S representative at conference
STORYLINE:
Italian Foreign Minister Renato Ruggiero, one of the most respected ministers in Premier Silvio Berlusconi's conservative Cabinet, resigned on Saturday after a spat with the premier over the government's lukewarm reception of the euro.
Berlusconi's office confirmed that the two had agreed on a "consensual" parting.
Tensions between Ruggiero and Berlusconi flared this week after Ruggiero publicly criticised the government's handling of the euro's January 1 launch and the anti-euro comments by several of Berlusconi's top ministers.
Berlusconi fired back, telling the Rome daily La Repubblica on Friday that he alone directed Italy's foreign policy, not Ruggiero.
He said Ruggiero was merely a "technical" functionary carrying out his policies.
The resignation was the first in Berlusconi's eight-month-old conservative government and was likely to spark concerns abroad since Ruggiero - a former president of the World Trade Organisation - was seen as lending international credibility to the billionaire media mogul.
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