Vannacci says will carry out new job 'with passion'

(ANSA) - ROME, DEC 3 - Anti-gay general Roberto Vannacci said Sunday he would carry out his new job as army ground operations chief of staff "with passion".
    Former crack paratroop regiment commander Vannacci, 55, was sacked in August as head of the army geographical institute after self-publishing a book slating gays and other minorities, leading Defence Minister Guido Crosetto to open disciplinary proceedings against him which are ongoing.
    Former right-wing Rome mayor Gianni Alemanno said Crosetto had been "definitively given the lie" by Vaannacci's new appointment, which defence ministry sources said however was not a promotion.
    Alemanno, leader of the recently founded small right-wing Independence Movement party, said "all out most sincere congratulations go to Vannacci, and all our concern to Crosetto, that such a man should be entrusted with the defence of our nation".
    Vannacci's bestselling book has made him a hero in anti-woke and anti-politically correct circles.
    Vannacci said Sunday "the new post, which I was sure would come, has been given me by the armed force top brass...and it is a very prestigious role that I assume and will carry forward with the passion I have always shown, fitting for my experience, since I have never had any doubt that I did not contravene military codes". (ANSA).