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Ieyasu Tokugawa
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Silvio Berlusconi: 'My passion for women is better than being gay’
Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian prime minister, has made a homosexual slur, dismissing as a storm in a tea cup reports that prostitutes had attended sex parties at his Sardinian villa.
By Nick Squires, Rome
Published: 5:57PM GMT 02 Nov 2010
A prostitute was reported to have told police of her involvement in "bunga-bunga" sex parties at Mr Berlusconi's home. The prostitute, 28, who has not been named, was questioned in connection with a separate investigation into alleged cocaine dealing. Mr Berlusconi laughed off a political storm that has raged since a teenage Moroccan belly dancer said last week she had witnessed similar parties in his Milan home. "Better to have a passion for beautiful women than to be gay," he told a business audience.
The allegations have triggered an explosion of references to the phrase "bunga-bunga". The term, which refers to a joke often told by Mr Berlusconi, has dominated news bulletins, appeared in newspaper cartoons and featured widely in discussions among Italians. The alleged escort said men and women cavorted at a party last summer at Villa Certosa, Mr Berlusconi's multi-million-pound property on the Costa Smeralda.
It is claimed she was recruited by Italy's best-known showbusiness agent, Lele Mora, who is one of three people being investigated for allegedly aiding and abetting prostitution in relation to an alleged call-girl ring in Milan. Karima Keyek, the teenager who is also known by her stage name of Ruby Rubacuori, claimed she too was introduced to the prime minister through Mr Mora.
She says Mr Berlusconi gave her €7,000 and jewellery when she attended two of his parties earlier this year, but denies having sex with him. The 74 year-old billionaire is under intense pressure to respond to claims that he ordered police in Milan to release Miss Keyek from custody late one night in May after she was accused of stealing money and valuables from a friend.
While some Italians have been angered by claims of abuse of office, others have delighted in satirising the alleged "bunga-bunga" parties. The phrase is said to come either from the punch-line to one of the premier's bawdy jokes. Another theory is that it refers to an "erotic ritual" that Mr Berlusconi learnt about from his friend, Col Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan leader.
An opposition party, Italy of Values, has come up with a campaign poster entitled "Evolution of the species?" with three images of Mr Berlusconi. In the first, he is dressed in a dark suit, shown smoothing his hair and identified simply as "Silvio".
The second shows a photograph from 2004, when a grinning Mr Berlusconi notoriously wore a bandana to cover his hair transplant, above the word "Papi" or "Daddy" – the term of endearment reportedly used by the showgirls and models in his inner circle. In the third he is shown dressed in the sort of traditional North African robes worn by Col Gaddafi, above the words "bunga-bunga!!"
