RIYADH, 4 April 2003 — Italian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Torquato Cardilli, 60, who made headlines in November 2001 by reverting to Islam, has been recalled by the Italian government. Cardilli, who is about to complete two years and five months as the Italian ambassador, is to be replaced by Dr. Armando Sanguini.
Cardilli is the first serving Western ambassador to Saudi Arabia to revert to Islam.
Cardilli told Arab News he was calling on senior Saudi officials to say good-bye. The outgoing ambassador would not speculate whether there would be another posting for him.
After embracing Islam, Cardilli was summoned to Rome to explain his apparently sudden decision. At the time, the Italian press speculated that Cardilli reverted only after being caught paying an illegal visit to the holy city of Makkah. The ambassador has repeatedly denied the allegation.
“I am fully convinced of the truth of Islam through my regular reading of God’s final revelation, the Holy Qur’an,” Cardilli has been quoted as saying.
Born in 1942, Cardilli is married with two children. He was first appointed at the Italian Foreign Ministry’s political office in 1967 and previously worked as a diplomat in Sudan, Syria, Iraq, Libya, Albania and Tanzania.
Cardilli, who speaks Arabic, has always expressed happiness over his reversion to Islam despite being surrounded by controversy in Italy.
His successor Dr. Sanguini is a non-Muslim with a degree in political science from Milan University.
