Berlusconi lawyer says premier is not hiding ancient tombs

Jul 24, 2009, 19:52 GMT

Rome - Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's lawyer dismissed Friday as 'risible' growing calls for the premier to explain whether he is hiding ancient tombs on the premises of his luxury Sardinian villa.

The controversy has added a fresh twist to the sex scandal entangling Berlusconi, including the posting online this week of audio tapes of his alleged conversations with a prostitute who claims to have spent a night with the premier.

In one of the conversations posted Thursday, Berlusconi purportedly tells the escort, Patrizia D'Addario, of the existence of 30 Phoenician tombs, dating to 300 BC, found on the grounds of Villa Certosa.

Sardinian authorities cited in the Italian media expressed surprise over the alleged archaeological find, which by law would have had to be reported to state heritage officials.

Italy's Culture Ministry has refused to comment on the alleged find amid growing calls by the opposition for Berlusconi to explain his alleged claim to D'Addario.

Berlusconi's lawyer, Niccolo Ghedini, has disputed the veracity of the series of tapes that began appearing on left-leaning magazine L'Espresso's site on Monday.

On Friday he slammed what he said were the latest 'unverified reports.'

'Berlusconi would have never spoken of the discovery of 30 Phoenician tombs in his park, because nothing of the sort exists or has been found in the area of Villa Certosa,' Ghedini was quoted as saying by the ANSA news agency.

According to Ghedini, the grounds surrounding Villa Certosa - where Berlusconi often hosts foreign dignitaries - have been inspected by Italian judicial officials in the past.

'Any additional controls can be carried out at any time,' Ghedini told ANSA.

Italy's National Association of Archaeologists said that if the tombs existed they would be 'incredibly important' for studies on the ancient presence on Sardinia of the Phoenicians, an ancient maritime trading people whose trading empire spread throughout the Mediterranean from their original settlements along the coast of modern-day Lebanon, Syria and Israel.

On Monday when Espresso posted the first series of audio tapes, Ghedini described them as 'without any merit, completely improbable and the fruit of invention.

On Thursday, Foreign Minister Franco Frattini claimed in an interview with the BBC that journalists had paid 'escorts or even prostitutes' to make 'false allegations,' against Berlusconi.

D'Addario denied she received such money and challenged Frattini to provide evidence to back his allegations.

The recordings have reignited a scandal that first broke in June, a few weeks after Berlusconi's wife, Veronica Lario, announced divorce plans after accusing her husband of consorting with under-age girls.

Then D'Addario, in a newspaper interview, claimed she and other young women had been paid by a businessman, Giampaolo Tarantini, to attend parties hosted by the premier.

Tarantini, who has been implicated in a corruption and prostitution probe by prosecutors in the southern city of Bari, has denied any wrongdoing. However, he has apologised to Berlusconi for any embarrassment he may have caused.

Berlusconi has repeatedly denied he ever paid anyone for sex, and has accused the left wing media of mounting a smear campaign against him.