Italy's Reforms Minister Roberto Calderoli resigned today following deadly clashes in Libya over cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad that he had made into T-shirts and wore on state television, a spokesman said.
"I have resigned," Ansa news agency quoted Mr Calderoli as saying.
About 10 people were killed yesterday trying to storm the Italian consulate in Benghazi, the only Western diplomatic mission in the eastern Libyan city, Italy's ambassador to Tripoli said.
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi publicly demanded Mr Calderoli step down, but acknowledged that he did not have the power under Italy's constitution to force the far-right minister out of office.
The episode has embarrassed Mr Berlusconi ahead of April elections in which he wants to portray himself as a force of moderation within the centre-right.
It also follows years of warming relations with Libya, which Rome once ruled as a colony.
Mr Calderoli, a member of the anti-immigrant Northern League party, earlier said he would step down if it would help build dialogue "between the Western world and the Islamic world".
Centre-left leader Romano Prodi, whose lead over Mr Berlusconi had been narrowing in recent opinion polls, seized on the events as proof of extremism within the centre-right House of Freedom coalition. "It should not have waited until we were forced to count the dead to take action," Mr Prodi said. He added that asking Mr Caderoli to step down was "the least" the government could do.
Muslims believe images of the Prophet are forbidden. But Mr Calderoli proudly wore the images on Italian state television this week, saying his T-shirt was a "battle for freedom".
The stone-throwing protesters in Libya set fire to the Danish flag and cars and clashed with police as they attempted to storm the Italian consulate in Benghazi. They set a fire on the building's first floor.
Italy's Ambassador to Tripoli, Francesco Trupiano, acknowledged Mr Calderoli's T-shirt may have played a role in the protests, but stopped short of blaming him outright. "The origin of the protest is the cartoons. But obviously I can't rule out that the initiatives of a government minister ... may have influenced (the crowd) by agitating spirits," Mr Trupiano said.
Meanwhile, four people were wounded today when shots were fired during a protest in central Pakistan over publication of cartoons.
The shooting occurred as hundreds of protesters pelted police with stones and tried to block a road in the town of Chiniot in the central province of Punjab, a local police official told Reuters.