Former New York city mayor Rudolph Giuliani confirmed here on Thursday that he was still not in a position to decide whether or not he will seek the Republican Party nomination for president in 2008.
"At the moment there is an exploratory committee at work to see if it is feasible from an economic point of view to mount an election campaign," Giuliani said on the sidelines of a seminar here. "Only once their work is done, which will take a couple of months, will I make my decision," he added.
Although he claims he still has not made up his decision, the US press has obtained a 140-page 'battle plan' for Giuliani's bid for the White House.
The plan mostly focuses on fund-raising but also looks at his strengths and weaknesses as a potential candidate, including his more non-conservative views on some social issues.
Giuliani made his remarks at the University of Calabria where he spoke on the topic of leadership and social values.
The former New York mayor is the author of a book entitled 'Leadership Through the Ages' in which he argued that the leadership skills he learned can be used by anyone.
When asked during the conference whether he considered himself a leader, the ex-New York mayor said "of course I do and I wrote this book to help others to become leaders".
Although Giuliani was thrown into the international spotlight for his performance as mayor after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, for which he was named Time magazine's Man of the Year, he had already earned a reputation as one of New York's most effective mayors.
A recent poll in Iowa, which will be the first state to indicate a party candidate for president, put Giuliani ahead of Arizona Senator John McCain, the expected front-runner for the Republican nomination. Giuliani arrived in Italy on Monday, with his wife Judith, and on Wednesday was the guest of honor at the Jerome Hines Memorial Peace Concert, which was organised by the group Calabria for Zambia: A Bridge of Solidarity. While in the Italian capital, Giuliani had informal meetings with Senate Speaker Franco Marini and the chairman of the Interparliamentary Union, former House speaker Fernando Casini. He also paid a private courtesy call on Italian Head of State Giorgio Napolitano, at the presidential Quirinale Palace, and visited the Vatican museum.
