Carfagna to sue over Berlusconi allegations

Mara Carfagna, the one-time topless model turned Italian politician, has decided to sue a comedienne who made a joke that she was given her ministerial position in return for performing an explicit sexual act with Silvio Berlusconi. The comic, Sabina Guzzanti has revealed that 32-year old Carfagna has begun a £1m lawsuit against her, an action that looks set to provide further lurid headlines about the flirtatious Italian Prime Minister.

Rumour has been rife in the Italian press about Carfagna's relationship with Berlusconi after he quipped in 2007: "If I was not already married I would have married her immediately." That remark prompted Berlusconi's wife, Veronica, to demand an apology in a letter to an Italian newspaper. And rumours have circulated in the Italian media that wire-taps allegedly conducted in a separate inquiry by an Italian magistrate pointed to a relationship between Berlusconi and Carfagna.

Guzzanti, 45, has long been a thorn in the prime minister's side, earning an unofficial boycott by Italian state television for her pains. She took aim at Carfagna during a leftwing rally in July, as well as criticising Pope Benedict, claiming: "In 20 years [the former Cardinal Joseph] Ratzinger will be dead and will end up in hell, tormented by queer demons - not passive ones, but very active ones."

However, the comic remained defiant. She said: "By putting Carfagna at the ministry for equal opportunities, Berlusconi has offended every Italian woman yet again, and in conclusive fashion."

In an interview on Italian television on Wednesday, Carfagna, 32, who is the minister for Equal Opportunities, said she was taking the action in part to combat sexism. She said: "If a woman builds a career she is suspected of having sought shortcuts and received favours while people believe that men who go far deserve it." ·