Berlusconi rejects 17-year-old runaway's tale of 'bunga bunga'

WHAT EXACTLY is a “bunga bunga”? That question exercised a lot of Italian minds yesterday after media reports claimed dinners…

WHAT EXACTLY is a “bunga bunga”? That question exercised a lot of Italian minds yesterday after media reports claimed dinners at the private residence of Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi in Arcore, near Milan, might sometimes end with a “bunga, bunga”, otherwise described as a post-prandial erotic moment.

It would seem that yet another colourful chapter in the never dull life and times of prime minister Berlusconi is about to be written. At the centre of this story is 17-year-old Moroccan runaway, “Ruby”, who claims that Emilio Fede, a news director from Mr Berlusconi’s Mediaset TV empire, accompanied her to parties at Arcore.

Meanwhile, three people with access to Mr Berlusconi, namely Mr Fede, TV impresario Lele Mora and PDL local politician Nicole Minetti are reportedly under investigation for aiding and abetting prostitution in relation to “Ruby”.

The parties in question allegedly involved Mr Berlusconi and a number of young women and sometimes ended with the “bunga bunga”, a game said to have been copied from the repertoire of Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

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“Ruby” has apparently given investigating magistrates full details of the “game” pointing out that the “bunga bunga” ended with a communal swim in the Arcore covered pool, adding that by this time she was the only person “still dressed”.

Asked about the “Ruby” investigation during a Naples press conference about the city’s garbage crisis yesterday, Mr Berlusconi dismissed the matter with characteristic wit, saying to reporters: “I’m here to talk about real trash. Media trash I leave to you”.

Mr Berlusconi’s lawyer and fellow PDL deputy Niccolo Ghedini earlier this week said that “various statements made by the said Ruby are completely without foundation”.

Even media sources normally hostile to Mr Berlusconi concede that Ruby’s story is unclear and full of contradictions.

The problem for the prime minister is that last summer his wife Veronica Lario announced that she was divorcing him, saying that she did not want to live with a man who “frequents minors” and adding that her 74-year-old husband was “not well”.

A number of other young women corroborated Ms D’Addario’s story. All the descriptions of the parties sound similar to that of Ruby this week. Except for the “bunga bunga”, that is.