Berlusconi says topless photos at villa innocent

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi today played down photos in a Spanish newspaper of topless women sunbathing at his seaside villa as "innocent" and said they were an invasion of his privacy.

Berlusconi's private life, including an investigation into his use of state planes to ferry guests to his luxury villa on the Mediterranean island of Sardinia, has become an explosive issue ahead of European elections.

In an article titled "The pictures vetoed by Berlusconi", Spain's El Pais published five photos, including two showing the premier walking within the villa grounds accompanied by women whose faces are blurred, and one of women sunbathing topless.

Another photo in the newspaper, which last week attacked Berlusconi as bent on using his power to give himself legal immunity, shows a naked man by the poolside.

"Do you take a shower in a jacket and tie?" Berlusconi asked a radio interviewer when quizzed about the photos.

"These are people bathing in a jacuzzi inside a private house meant for guests."

The photos were taken by photographer Antonello Zappadu, whose pictures an Italian prosecutor has allowed Berlusconi to seize on privacy grounds because they were taken without permission from outside the villa using a powerful lens.

"These are innocent photos, there's no scandal but this is a violation of privacy and a scandalous aggression," Berlusconi told local radio, lamenting that this was unacceptable when the premier hosted a Czech delegation at his villa.

The 72-year-old conservative leader is mired in a scandal over his friendship with the 18-year-old aspiring model Noemi Letizia, which prompted his wife to ask for a divorce and stirred an outcry from the opposition.

Berlusconi, whose popularity has weathered Italy's worst post-war economic crisis, denies a sexual relationship with Letizia and says it is a private matter.