Low expectations for Italy's G8 summit

ROME, July 7 (UPI) -- Marred by chaotic preparations, this week's Group of Eight summit in the Italian town of L'Aquila is not expected to produce any diplomacy breakthroughs.

In fact, some diplomats have been so frustrated by the Italian preparations that they have been calling for Italy to be expelled from the club and be replaced with Spain, British newspaper The Guardian reports.

"The Italians have been just awful. There have been no processes and no planning," one senior G8 diplomat told the newspaper.

Because of Italy's diplomatic paralysis, Washington stepped in to organize the so-called sherpa calls. They are aimed at paving the way for meaningful and outcome-oriented negotiations before and during the meeting.

"For another country to organize the sherpa calls is just unprecedented," the G8 diplomat added.

While the list of non-G8 heads of state attending is huge, and the topics due to be discussed range from climate protection and Iran to the Middle East peace process, there are practically no new diplomacy initiatives for this week's summit. Even the food security initiative was made possible only because of the U.S.-led sherpa talks, The Guardian writes. As a consequence, experts anticipate very little substantial progress to emerge in L'Aquila.

Maybe the summit's host, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, is indeed more troubled by his domestic sex scandal than he likes to admit.

Berlusconi's wife recently announced she would divorce him after it surfaced that he partied with several barely dressed young women during the night of the U.S. presidential elections. Critics have said the scandal is hurting the premier's credibility and undermines his position to lead diplomacy at the summit.

While Berlusconi has some fans on the international stage -- including Libya's leader Moammar Gadhafi and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin -- he has been criticized for backpedaling on development aid pledges made at the G8 summit four years ago.

At home, Berlusconi is lauded for his decision to move the meeting to L'Aquila, the city battered by a major earthquake in April. But that this may not have been the smartest of all decisions was brought into focus last week, when the city was rocked by an aftershock.

Italy has drawn up alternative plans in case of an emergency and says it is ready to evacuate the area quickly should the earth start trembling again.

"There are helicopters on standby," an official from the British Embassy told the Daily Telegraph. "The Italians are very well prepared."

At least in that department, they are.