Police catch intruder trying to enter Berlusconi's hospital room
16:25 16/12/2009 MOSCOW, December 16 (RIA Novosti) - Milan police arrested an intruder early on Wednesday trying to enter the hospital room where Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is being treated after an attack.
AFP news agency quoted Milan police as saying a 26-year-old man from Turin managed to get to the seventh floor of the hospital, but was overpowered by police and Berlusconi's bodyguards outside the lift.
The intruder was not carrying a weapon, and said he only wanted to talk to the prime minister.
Berlusconi, 73, had his nose and two teeth broken in an attack in Milan on Sunday. A man hurled an alabaster souvenir model of the Milan Cathedral at the premier while he was greeting the crowd and signing autographs after a rally speech.
Doctors have advised Berlusconi to halt his duties for 10 days. A number of events with Berlusconi's participation have already been canceled in Italy and abroad.
A spokesman for Berlusconi said on Wednesday that the premier is still experiencing pain, and that the injuries have exacerbated neck pains from a pre-existing condition.
The attacker, 42-year-old Massimo Tartaglia, has a long record of mental illness and is currently in a psychiatric ward in the San Vittore prison. He has sent the prime minister a letter apologizing for his "cowardly" attack.
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