WASHINGTON -- Sandro Pertini, Italy's 85-year-old president, flew to the United States Wednesday to assure President Reagan that his country is economically sound and able to play the role of a key NATO ally.
Pertini and his entourage left Rome aboard a special Alitalia DC-10 jet. Secretary of State Alexander Haig arranged to greet the Socialist elder statesman late Wednesday at Andrews Air Force Base in suburban Maryland.
The Italian leader will meet with Reagan Thursday. The White House will give a dinner in his honor with Italian-Americans Frank Sinatra and Perry Como as entertainers and Brig. Gen. James Dozier, who was rescued from Red Brigades kidnappers by Italian anti-terrorist police, among the guests.
Talks also are scheduled with Haig, Treasury Secretary Donald Regan, Deputy Defense Secretary Frank Carlucci, Commerce Secretary Malcolm Baldrige and members of Congress.
Pertini, making his first visit to the United States, will fly to San Francisco Saturday. He also will travel to Chicago, New York and the United Nations before returning to Italy April 1.
'Italy intends to play this role as a reliable partner of the United States and in its foreign policy,' Ambassador Rinaldo Petrignani said on the eve of the Pertini's arrival.
Italy's erratic economy has worried its Western allies. The lira has been plunging to new lows against the dollar almost daily in the past week and faces a danger of formal devaluation.
Some Italian leaders believed, like West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt, that the Reagan administration's economic policies and high U.S. interest rates are partly to blame for the disruption of European economies.
But Petrignani said inflation has been reduced and his country is 'certainly coming to the end of the tunnel' in its economic troubles.
'Italy is politically more stable than is generally considered,' Petrignani said. 'The economy is resilient, its difficulties are not so much greater than others.'
Italy has proved a strong ally to the United States in recent months, joining Washington in criticizing the Soviet role in Poland and agreeing agreed to station Pershing II and Cruise missiles in Sicily.
Pertini, who was jailed seven years by Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini and escaped execution by the Nazis during World War II, was elected president of Italy in July 1978. Although the office is largely ceremonial, he has played an important role as a political mediator.
Senior administration officials said his visit comes during a 'high point of relations between Italy and the United States.'
Pertini holds 'strong views' on Guatemala 'and is critical of our moves' in Central America, one official said.
But Italy has taken a lead in NATO and the European Economic Community, there are 30,000 U.S. servicemen and dependents in the country and 'we see eye-to-eye on Poland,' the officials said.
Reagan will use the meeting to personally thank the Italian leader for Dozier's rescue, they said.
The officials described Pertini, who speaks no English, as is 'an extraordinary man ... of diamond-hard integrity' who is known for being outspoken and 'unwavering in his commitment to liberty.'
