Berlusconi to remain in hospital

Former Premier Silvio Berlusconi, who was hospitalised for tests after he fainted during a rally, will stay in the hospital for a couple more days, doctors and friends of the media mogul said today.

Emilio Fede, a news executive at one of Berlusconi’s private TV networks and a close friend, told reporters after visiting him at San Raffaele hospital that the conservative opposition leader was not being released this evening as the politician had predicted, but would remain at least through tomorrow.

Doctors at the hospital did not immediately give a reason for the longer stay. Dr. Alberto Zangrillo, a heart specialist, told reporters at the hospital that Berlusconi would likely stay another day or two.

Berlusconi spokesman Paolo Bonaiuti said at the hospital that the political leader would keep his commitment to address a rally on Saturday in Rome to protest the policies of Premier Romano Prodi’s centre-left government.

The 70-year-old conservative leader reportedly had no complications overnight. The hospitalisation forced Berlusconi’s ongoing trial in Milan to be adjourned to Friday, his lawyer Niccolo Ghedini said.