Italy's gaffe-prone leader Silvio Berlusconi became embroiled in a row with Argentina on Wednesday after making a joke about the South American's country's 1976-1983 dictatorship.

Buenos Aires reacted furiously and summoned the Italian ambassador after hearing of Prime Minister Berlusconi's remarks alluding to "death flights" in which political prisoners were drugged and dumped into the sea from planes.

The Argentine government "voiced its displeasure and unease at the quotes attributed to Berlusconi" during a meeting with Italy's Ambassador in Buenos Aires, Stefano Ronca, an Argentinean Foreign Ministry source said.

"Mr Ronca said the statements were being verified, and agreed to inform the government (swiftly)," the source added.

The remarks in question were made last Friday when Mr Berlusconi attended an electoral meeting in Sardinia.

In remarks that now appear on YouTube, Mr Berlusconi refers to "that Argentinean dictator who did away with his opponents by taking them up in an airplane with a football then opening the door and saying 'it's a nice day outside go and play'."

"It's funny but it's dramatic," he then added.

An estimated 30,000 people went missing and are presumed dead during the last Argentine dictatorship, including at least 100 Italian nationals.

Argentina and Italy normally have close and cordial relations. More than half of all Argentines are descended from Italian immigrants.

The row escalated later on Wednesday when the Italian government issued its own statement, describing the reaction of Buenos Aires as "a slanderous attack" on Mr Berlusconi that was "totally unjustified" and had incurred Rome's "wrath".

It said the row was being blown out of all proportion and that Mr Berlusconi's words had been completely twisted when it was clear he "was underlining the brutality of the 'death flights' of the Argentinean dictatorship".

"It's a misunderstanding," said an Italian government source.

"The head of government wanted to underline the cruelty of the crimes committed against the opposition and the tragedy of those who disappeared, in order to explain the extent to which he himself was offended and insulted when opponents compare him to Hitler or Videla."

Jorge Rafael Videla was the leader of the 1976 coup in Argentina and led the military dictatorship for the next five years when repression of the opposition reached a peak.