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Berlusconi, pope meet 1st time since sex scandal
2009-09-26
ROME - Premier Silvio Berlusconi had his first meeting Saturday with Pope Benedict XVI since the Italian leader was implicated in a sex scandal that broke last spring. Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi says the pope spoke briefly with Berlusconi on Saturday at Rome's Ciampino Airport. Lombardi says the two talked for two or three minutes with aides nearby and he emphasized "this was not a private meeting." Berlusconi went out of his way to catch the pope before Benedict took off for the three-day visit to the Czech Republic. The Italian news agency ANSA said Berlusconi's plane, bringing him back from the G-20 meeting in Pittsburgh, was supposed to land in Milan but switched instead to Rome so Berlusconi could see the pope off. Lombardi says he assumes the two exchanged pleasantries. Further details of their conversation were unavailable. An Italian businessman who was recently arrested in Bari in a cocaine probe has told investigators he paid young women, including a prostitute, to attend parties and dinners at Berlusconi's Sardinian villa and Rome residence. The prostitute has said in interviews she spent the night with the premier. Berlusconi, who has said he is "no saint," has denied ever paying anyone for sex and is not under investigation in the scandal. Italian radio said the airport meeting was viewed as a way for the government to show that Vatican-Italian relations remain strong despite the sex scandal. (This version CORRECTS that no one has accused Berlusconi of paying prostitutes and ADDS that he has always denied it.)
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