bild

Picture dated 09 June 1997 of representatives (L-R) Tomaso Tomasi of Italy, Aleksa Jokic of Yugoslavia and Petros Lambrou of Greece, signing the Serbia Telecom contract in Belgrade. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is seeking 15million euros in damages from the leader of Italy's largest opposition party, Piero Fassino, after being accused of masterminding a smear campaign against his political rivals, it was reported Wednesday. Berlusconi's decision to sue Fassino for libel represents the latest instalment in an escalating battle pitting Italy's richest man against the country's centre-left opposition parties. The row revolves around the so-called Telekom Serbia affair, in which several former left-wing government officials have been accused of taking bribes during the acquisition by Telecom Italia of a 29 percent stake in the Serbian phone company in 1997, while Slobodan Milosevic was still in power. (KEYSTONE/EPA PHOTO/STR)