Berlusconi dismisses sex trial girl as liar. (apr 14 2010)

ROME - Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi dismissed the girl at the heart of his sex trial as an over-imaginative liar and shrugged off his legal woes at a dinner with foreign reporters this week.Berlusconi said "Ruby the Heart Stealer" — the Moroccan-born dancer he allegedly paid for underage sex — was a "mythomaniac," who lied exaggeratedly, though he stressed she did it against her will and couldn't be blamed.

Despite a brief tirade against Italian magistrates he has long accused of persecuting him through the courts for political reasons, the premier was all smiles, congratulating himself on his charm and affable nature.

"I have a talent for being friendly, getting people to think highly of me and making friends," the roguish 74-year old told reporters during a private, off- the-record evening on Tuesday, details of which were then leaked by press.

Damaged in the popularity polls by the "RubyGate" sex scandal, Berlusconi said he was unlikely to seek reelection at the next elections in 2013 and named a possible successor as incumbent Justice Minister Angelo Alfano.

Alfano enjoyed a legal coup on Wednesday when Italy's lower chamber voted in favour of his judicial reform bill, which critics have argued has been designed for the express purpose of saving Berlusconi from his legal woes.

 

 

The premier said he had "no intention" of running for president, saying the post would be best filled by his right hand man Gianni Letta.

The premier, renowned for his love of curvaceous women and dirty jokes, was uncharacteristically restrained during the dinner, though he did invite the collected reporters to one of his famous "bunga bunga" parties.

On Wednesday, it emerged that two witnesses at one such party held last August had told prosecutors in the Ruby case they had been sickened by the erotic games the other guests indulged in with the prime minister.

The girls said they had been invited by the premier's close friend, anchorman Emilio Fede, who had promised to get the pair jobs as weather girls on the television channel and implied he wanted sexual relations with them.

79-year old Fede is currently under investigation for procuring prostitutes for Berlusconi.

The premier dismissed the accusations as absurd, joking that his 80-year old friend couldn't find his penis if he tried.