Newspaper runs racy Berlusconi villa pics

ROME, June 5 (UPI) -- Photos of nude and semi-nude guests at Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's villa in Sardinia were published Friday in a Spanish newspaper.

Spain's El Pais newspaper in Madrid said the photos -- including ones of women either topless or in skimpy bathing suits -- were typical of the photos authorities prevented the Italian press from running, The Guardian reported.

The pictures were taken by Antonello Zappadu, an Italian photographer who shot pictures of events at the Berlusconi villa. Zappadu earlier turned over a CD of photos to local police in Italy.

El Pais officials said the photographer blurred faces of people in the pictures to protect their identities.

Zappadu reportedly told El Pais that "virtually every weekend" Italian air force flights brought Berlusconi's friends, dancers and television personalities to his weekend retreat, the British newspaper reported.

Berlusconi admitted Thursday he was the subject of an investigation into the misuse of public funds to fly entertainers to his villa on official aircraft.

In an accompanying commentary, El Pais said the publication of the photographs "is not an attempt to judge his morality as an ordinary citizen; rather, it aims to show how, as prime minister, he is trying to turn the realm of democratic politics into a simple continuation of his friendships and entertainment. ... It is not the job of official aircraft to transport guests to his private parties."