Renzi to attend Peres funeral (2)

(ANSA) - Rome, September 29 - Premier Matteo Renzi will attend the funeral of former Israeli president Shimon Peres in Jerusalem on Friday, sources said on Thursday. As a result, the premier's planned engagements in Genoa and Turin have been cancelled. Renzi remembered Peres as a "great man of peace" following his death early on Wednesday at the age of 93. "Shimon Peres, a great of our time, a man of peace", tweeted Renzi.
    The premier remembered the Nobel Peace Prize winner as a "great friend of Italy" and said he had met him on September 2 at the Ambrosetti Forum, an annual international economic conference held at Villa d'Este in the northern town of Cernobbio on the shores of Lake Como. "We all remember him with affection and gratitude, the Italian people (are) very close to the Israelis", said the premier. "He is one of those figures who are worth twice as much", he told Rtl 102.5 radio later on Wednesday.