(Reuters) - Italian Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi resigned on Tuesday over his government's decision to return two marines to India to face trial for the murder of local fishermen while on anti-piracy duty.
Terzi said he was stepping down to protect the "honour of the country, of the armed forces, and Italian diplomacy", during testimony to the lower house of parliament, drawing loud applause from lawmakers.
"I can no longer be part of this government and I announce my resignation," he said. "My reservations about sending the marines back to India were not listened to."
The marines, Salvatore Girone and Massimiliano Latorre, are facing trial in India over the shooting dead of two fishermen off the southern state of Kerala in February 2012 when they were assigned to protect an Italian commercial tanker from pirates.
They said they fired warning shots at a boat they believed to be a pirate vessel.
Since the incident, India and Italy have been embroiled in an escalating row at a time when Rome is trying to secure a major deal to sell helicopters to the Indian government.
The marines were allowed home for Christmas, and then again to vote in the Italian elections in February, on condition they returned to India.
On March 11, the outgoing technocrat government of Mario Monti said it would not send the marines back because Indian courts did not have jurisdiction over the incident, which Rome said occurred in international waters.
But Italy reversed its position last week after India prevented the Italian ambassador from leaving the country.
Latorre and Girone returned to New Delhi on Friday in what defence forces chief Admiral Luigi Binelli Mantelli called a "farce".
The two men themselves wrote a letter to lawmakers saying their return to India was a tragedy.
The confused handling of the dispute has been a black mark on Monti's brief, 17-month government, and has led to accusations that it has made Italy appear diplomatically weak.
The marines' anti-piracy duty was conducted under the umbrella of a U.N. resolution to safeguard shipping from repeated pirate attacks.
MONTI "ASTONISHED"
Terzi's decision to quit was a reversal of the sentiments he expressed in an interview he gave to a newspaper last Friday in which he said he "didn't see a reason" to step down.
Monti said he was "astonished" by the resignation because he had seen his foreign minister on Tuesday morning and he had not been told of the impending announcement.
He said Terzi's opinion that the marines should not have been returned to India "is not shared by the government" and that he would address parliament on Wednesday "on the whole affair".
Later, President Giorgio Napolitano named Monti to serve as interim foreign minister.
Italy has been in a political limbo since elections last month, which gave no political group a working majority in parliament. But Monti's government, now in a caretaker capacity, is unlikely to remain in power for more than a few weeks.
Defence Minister Giampaolo Di Paola, who spoke immediately after Terzi, rejected his gesture.
"It would be easy for me to resign today, leaving a seat open that will be filled by another minister soon anyway," Di Paola said. "But I won't abandon a ship in difficulty, with Massimiliano and Salvatore on board, until the last day of the war."
Several lawmakers, led by Silvio Berlusconi's People of Freedom (PDL) party, accused Monti of mishandling of the affair.
"The incredible conflict within the government took place to the detriment of our marines ... and it demonstrates once again the political inadequacy of Monti," said Deborah Bergamini, a PDL lawmaker. (Additional reporting by Naomi O'Leary; Editing by Barry Moody and Michael Roddy)
Webber and Vettel partnership doomed, says Briatore
REUTERS - Feuding team mates Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel will not stay together at Formula One champions Red Bull after this season, according to Italian Flavio Briatore.
Briatore, the former Renault team boss who has been part of Webber's management throughout his grand prix career, told Italy's RAI radio that he had spoken to the Australian by telephone on Monday after the Malaysian Grand Prix.
He said Webber was still furious with triple world champion Vettel winning at Sepang after ignoring team orders and overtaking him in the closing laps.
"I don't think the relationship can be sewn together again," added Briatore.
Asked if he expected one of the two to leave the team at the end of 2013, the Italian replied: "For sure. Last year already there were problems."
Webber, who will be 37 this year, is out of contract at the end of the season while Vettel is tied to Red Bull until at least the end of 2014.
He and Vettel have had several flare-ups since the start of their pairing in 2009, including a collision at the 2010 Turkish Grand Prix that cost Webber a victory and sent the German out of the race.
Webber has long maintained that the team favours Vettel, despite their insistence that the two have equal status.
Briatore said Malaysia had showed that Vettel was in charge at Red Bull, rather than team principal Christian Horner.
Webber's father Alan calmed speculation that his son could stay away from the third round of the championship in China on April 14.
"We'll be up in China for the next one," he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, adding: "I think it will take a while (for Vettel) to earn the respect and trust again."
Vettel apologised to Webber after taking his 27th grand prix win and recognised he had made a mistake in going against the team instructions.
Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone, who is close to 25-year-old Vettel with whom he occasionally plays backgammon in his paddock motorhome, criticised Red Bull for causing the controversy.
"At this stage of the championship, I do not believe there should be any team orders," he told the Daily Telegraph. "It does not matter who it is."
"Maybe there will be a stage when he (Vettel) would like Mark to help him, but I don't think Mark is going to come up front and do it," added the 82-year-old of the possible consequences for the champion.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin in London, editing by Justin Palmer)