Berlusconi attack a scam?

Reuters

ATTACK: Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, left, after he was attacked by Massimo Tartaglia, right.

Reuters

BRUISED AND BANDAGED: Silvio Berlusconi leaves hospital, four days after being attacked at a rally.

Berlusconi attacked

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Cover of the Rolling Stone. Silvio Berlusconi has been named Italian Rolling Stone's rock star of the year.

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Conspiracy theorists have posted videos on the internet which they claim show the attack on Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was staged, in order to garner sympathy for the embattled leader.

The videos, posted on YouTube, showed Berlusconi immediately cover his face following the December 13 attack. As he is hurried away by his security guards, no blood is apparent on his face.

The video, which was uploaded on Tuesday and called "The Attack on Berlusconi Is a Set-Up", is one of several postings, and has had more than 200,000 views, French news agency AFP reported. The video has apparently now been taken down.

Mr Berlusconi, 73, who has battled a series of scandals this year, was left with a broken nose, two broken teeth and other facial injuries after the incident.

His attacker, Massimo Tartaglia, who reportedly had a history of psychiatric troubles, was arrested after he threw the statue which inflicted the injuries.

AFP reported that the first video questioned why the prime minister emerged from the car shortly after the attack, showing his bloody face to the cameras. His injuries included a deep wound below his left eye which did not appear in the first images.

It also said Mr Berlusconi's clothes were free from any blood.

"A manipulation is underway on a world scale, whose aim in the short and long term is to take control of the Internet," the author concluded, AFP reported.

Mr Berlusconi saw a three-point improvement in some polls following the incident.

However, politicians on both sides of the aisle dismissed the suggestions.

- © Fairfax NZ News