Bloodied Berlusconi to Stay in Hospital

ROME, Dec. 14, 2009 — -- Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi spent the night under observation in a Milan hospital after being struck in the face with a statuette that was hurled at him Sunday as he was shook hands after a political rally.

He is in good condition but suffered a fractured nose, two broken teeth and has a headache this morning, according to a hospital spokesman.

His private doctor, Alberto Zangrillo, ordered an MRI and a few days of hospitalization to ensure that the 73-year-old leader is not more seriously injured.

Video cameras captured the prime minister's security detail pouncing on the attacker, Massimo Tartaglia, a 42-year-old man from the Milan area with a history of mental illness. Berlusconi, his face covered in blood, remained calm but was quickly hustled into his limousine.

But perhaps to signal he was not seriously injured, Berlusconi got out of the car to wave to the crowd one last time before being taken to the hospital where doctors stitched a deep cut on his lip.

His spokesman, Paolo Bonaiuti, said the prime minister was shocked and had not immediately realized the seriousness of his injuries.

Tartaglia allegedly threw a small metal souvenir replica of the Duomo, the historic cathedral in central Milan and the site of the political rally where the attack occurred.

While Berlusconi receives members of his government and family today at St. Raffaelle hospital, top security officials are holding a summit to discuss how Tartaglia managed to get close enough to the prime minister to injure him. The deputy prime minister, Gianfranco Fini, and the defense minister, Ignazio La Russa, refused to comment after visiting the prime minister.

Berlusconi has been embroiled in serious controversy in the past few months, which has polarized the political scene in Italy. He recently lost a court decision that overturned a law his supporters passed that gave him immunity from prosecution for previous criminal charges.