More bawdy Berlusconi photos surface

ROME, July 6 (UPI) -- Several European publications intend to publish bawdy photos of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi during the G8 summit in L'Aquila, sources said.

The publications are bidding on previously unpublished photos, including one that allegedly shows Berlusconi grinning broadly as two young women kiss in front of him at his Sardinian estate, The Times of London reported Monday.

Another photo allegedly shows two topless women in thongs kissing under a shower at another home belonging to Berlusconi, the Times reported.

Those are but two of 5,000 images the Times reported were taken by photographer Antonello Zappadu of Berlusconi and his guests in 2007 and 2008.

The photos are to be published during the Group of Eight summit beginning Wednesday with leaders of Russia, the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Canada taking part, said the Times, which did not name the publications reportedly seeking the photos.

Berlusconi's popularity fell from 73 percent to 62 percent in a recent opinion poll after two months of allegations about his private life, including a prostitute's claim she spent a night at Berlusconi's residence in Rome.