Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi listens to a journalist's question as he addresses a news conference at Chigi Palace in Rome July 7, 2009. REUTERS/Alessia Pierdomenico
Berlusconi's lawyer denies archaeological scandal -- "Prime Minister Berlusconi would never have talked about discovering 30 Phoenician tombs in his park, because nothing like that is there or has ever been found at the villa," said Niccolo Ghedini, who is also a legislator for Berlusconi's People of Freedom (PDL) party. "The whole area was subject to an exhaustive search by judicial authorities a short time ago, including the villa and the park. Another search can be conducted at any time," he said. The lawyer has repeatedly denied the authenticity of the tapes, branding them "a product of the imagination," and warned that it is illegal to post or publish them.
