Antonio Martino

Infobox Prime Minister
honorific-prefix = Onorevole
name = Antonio Martino

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order = Minister of Defense
term_start = June 11, 2001
term_end = May 17, 2006
predecessor = Sergio Mattarella
successor = Arturo Parisi
primeminister = Silvio Berlusconi
order2 = Minister of Foreign Affairs
term_start2 = May 10, 1994
term_end2 = January 17, 1995
predecessor2 = Leopoldo Elia
successor2 = Susanna Agnelli
primeminister2 = Silvio Berlusconi
birth_date = birth date and age|1942|12|22
birth_place = Messina, Italy
nationality = Italian
profession = Politician
University Professor
spouse =
children =
residence =
alma_mater =
religion = Roman Catholic
party = Forza Italia

Antonio Martino (born December 22, 1942 in Messina) is an Italian politician, who has been Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1994 and Italian Minister of Defense from 2001 to 2006. He is a founding member of Forza Italia, holding party card no. 2.

Career

Born at Messina, he is the son of Gaetano Martino, former Foreign Minister and prominent member of the late Italian Liberal Party (PLI). In mid-the 1980s he was unsuccessful candidate for the post of PLI secretary. A member of the Italian Parliament, he was first elected in 1994, re-elected in 1996 and 2001.

Since 1992, Martino is a professor of Economics, in the Political Science Department at the LUISS University of Rome (currently on Parliamentary leave); he is author of 11 books and over 150 papers and articles on economic theory and policy. He has been a frequent contributor to Italian and international magazines and newspapers, as well as Italian and international television and radio programs.

In 1988-90, Martino was President of the Mont Pelerin Society, an international society of classical liberals, founded in 1947 by Nobel Prize Winner Friedrich A. Hayek.

In 2003, Martino was involved in the forging of a claim that Iraq had aquired urianium from Niger included in a document issued by Number 10 Downing Street titled, "Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction: The assessment of the British Government". This document subsequently was quoted by President of USA George Bush when he uttered 16 words that have since come back to haunt him: "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa."cite web | last = Rivero | first = Michael | authorlink = Michael Rivero | title = Niger-Gate: The Scandal Behind The Scandal | month = September | year = 2008 | url = http://whatreallyhappened.com/WRHARTICLES/niger-gate.html ]

Notes and references