Italy's three-month-old government of communists and centrists came under its first serious strain yesterday when the head of one of the coalition parties threatened to pull his ministers out.
Mr Francesco Cossiga, volatile head of the centrist UDR party, has talked of withdrawing from Prime Minister Massimo D'Alema's government before - something that could leave it without a parliamentary majority. But this was his clearest threat yet.
"He will ask the three UDR ministers to resign. He has also sent a letter to the UDR party secretary in which he announced his resignation as party president," a UDR source said.