Madrid – Spanish newspaper El Pais said Thursday that lawyers for Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi have not followed up on threats to sue the paper over published photos of topless women at his villa.

 

"We have received nothing, there is no news" on the subject, a spokesman for the paper, Juan Cruz, told AFP.

Berlusconi's lawyers threatened legal action against El Pais over pictures it published in June of topless women and a naked man sunbathing at his villa in Sardinia.

The photos were among hundreds that had been seized by Italian authorities after Berlusconi filed a complaint to block their release, claiming they violated his right to privacy.

In August, Italian newspaper La Repubblica said Berlusconi is also seeking EUR 1 million in damages for defamation after it ran a series of stories about his private life.

Italy's Corriere della Sera and La Stampa newspapers said Wednesday that a businessman charged with corruption, Giancarlo Tarantini, claimed to have brought around 30 women ready to give sexual favours, "if the need arose," at 18 parties in Berlusconi's homes in Rome and Sardinia between September 2008 and January 2009.

The Italian premier has been plagued by scandals since his wife announced in May that she would divorce him after he attended a model's 18th birthday party.

The prime minister and the girl have vehemently denied that they had a sexual relationship.

Berlusconi has also insisted that he has never paid for sex.

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero met Berlusconi in Sardinia on Thursday, to discuss Spain's upcoming presidency of the European Union and the G20 summit in the US city of Pittsburgh on 24-25 September.

AFP / Expatica