Berlusconi attack

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi left the San Raffaele hospital saying he hoped an attack that broke his nose would usher in a new era of calm for Italian politics.

The 73-year-old wore a bandage on his nose and mouth and waved as he was driven away in a limousine four days after the assault.

Since the attack, in which Berlusconi was hit in the face with a replica of Milan cathedral, his conservative allies have accused the left of creating a "climate of hate."

The billionaire leader, who also had two teeth broken in the incident, said he hoped it could teach politicians more about the need for improved dialog.

"If after what has happened, there is a better awareness of the need for calmer and more honest language in Italian politics, this pain will not have been useless," he said in a statement issued shortly after leaving.

Alleged attacker 42-year-old Massimo Tartaglia was remanded into custody on Wednesday. A magistrate turned down a request for him to be transferred to a psychiatric hospital for treatment.

Warnings of violence

The attack, which followed a political rally in Milan on Sunday, triggered warnings that Italy risked the return of political violence that scarred the country in the 1970s.

But Berlusconi said that he believed that there would be a positive outcome and spoke of the "love" he had felt while recovering.

"These last days I have felt that even some political opposition leaders have come closer," he said. "I will have two memories from these days; the hatred of a few and the love of many, so many Italians."

A spokesman for Berlusconi said he had slept well after several days of discomfort, while doctors said he had been having trouble eating.

After leaving hospital he spent three hours with his dentist, who rebuilt one of the damaged teeth and repaired the other, according to the ANSA news agency. Berlusconi is expected to stay at his villa in Arcore, near Milan and may go for follow-up treatment in Switzerland.

The mayor of the Swiss village of Gravesano told newspaper Le Matin that he was expecting Berlusconi to arrive "in the coming days."

Calls for resignation

The Italian leader has faced multiple charges of corruption and has even been accused of having mafia links. Tens of thousands of Italians took part in protests in Rome earlier this month, demanding that he resign.

While in the hospital Berlusconi received calls from world leaders including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and US President Barack Obama.

Berlusconi called off a trip to the Copenhagen climate summit and a visit to L'Aquila, the city where 300 people died in an earthquake in April.

rc/AFP/dpa/AP/Reuters

Editor: Kyle James