Italian PM questioned by OSCE

The European security organisation, the OSCE, has asked the Italian prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, to clarify the reasons for the recent removal from state television of two political programmes which featured two journalists critical of his leadership.

The OSCE representative on freedom of the media, Freimut Duve, said the request was prompted by concerns expressed by the Italian journalists union and the opposition that Mr Berlusconi played some part in having the programmes scrapped.

The Prime Minister is reported to have criticised the two sacked journalists for using state television in a criminal way. Mr Berlusconi, Italy's richest man, controls the country's largest private broadcaster.

His critics say that with his media empire, and a political position which they say gives him influence over state media, Mr Berlusconi has power over ninety percent of Italian television.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service