‘Drop Berlusconi gossip for sake of G8’

President Giorgio Napolitano of Italy - not a man the world hears from often, given the flamboyance of his prime minister Silvio Berlusconi - has asked the impossible: he wants opposition politicians and journalists to suspend the public discussion of "controversial issues" in the run-up to next week's summit of G8 leaders.

Napolitano (above left, with his prime minister) did not spell out what controversial issues he was referring to - but the message was clear: would everyone please lay off Berlusconi and his alleged involvement with callgirls, showgirls and 18-year-old models. "Given the sensitivity of this international event, it would be quite right to call a truce in the controversies between now and the G8," he said.

Not surprisingly, Berlusconi endorsed the president's call. "We hope the head of state's invitation is taken up," he said.

Berlusconi was talking at a press conference held aboard the cruise liner Fantasia in Naples harbour. The boat was to have been used to host the G8 delegations before Berlusconi decided to switch the summit venue from La Maddalena, a former naval base in Sardinia, to L'Aquila, the medieval town in Abruzzo devastated by an earthquake on April 6.

The prime minister used artists' impressions to show how a police barracks in L'Aquila was being converted into a suitable location for the summit. By July 8, when the world leaders gather, the site will have 121,000 square metres of gardens, including 6,850 bushes and extensive lawns. "We shall certainly not make a bad impression," he said.