Berloscuni assures kids fair deal in his divorce accord

Milan, Feb 11 (IANS/AKI) Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has told the children of his second wife that they will not be penalised in a his forthcoming multi-million dollar divorce settlement.

Four of the billionaires children - all apart from his youngest son Luigi - had lunch with their father at his luxury villa Arcore outside the northern city of Milan Tuesday, Italian media reports said.

I do not want to harm anyone,” Berlusconi said, cited by Italian daily La Repubblica. “No one will be short-changed or discriminated against.

Berlusconi has two children from his first marriage to Carla DallOglio - Marina, 43, and Pier Silvio, 40 - and another three from his second marriage to Veronica Lario - Barbara, 25, Eleonora, 23, and Luigi, 21.

Marina is the president of Berlusconi’s Fininvest investment group and his publishing house Mondadori, while Pier Silvio is vice-president of his vast television empire, Mediaset.

Lario filed for divorce last May after revelations that the media tycoon had attended the 18th birthday party of an aspiring model who said she called him Daddy.

The move provoked a bitter dispute among his offspring with the children of his second marriage expressing concern that they would not get an equal share of his fortune, estimated to be around nine billion euros.

Berlusconi in late January met his estranged wife face to face for the first time since she demanded a divorce over his alleged relationships with showgirls and “escorts”.

Lario, a former actress, is reportedly demanding 43 million euros a year in maintenance, or just over 3.5 million euros a month.

Berlusconi’s lawyers have argued that this is too high and have proposed a maximum of 300,000 a month.

–IANS/AKI