Berlusconi ignores alleged death threat

ROME, Oct. 19 (UPI) -- Embattled Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has vowed to continue appearing in public despite an alleged death threat, officials said.

Intelligence officials concluded there was a risk of violence against Berlusconi after a militant group allegedly called for him to quit politics or suffer the sentence of "communist justice," authorities said.

The Revolutionary Brigades Fighters for Communism issued the threat in a letter to the newspaper II Riformista, said Elio Vito, minister for relations with parliament.

The letter urged Berlusconi to resign his office as of last Friday at midnight and "surrender to common justice" or "the sentence of communist justice will be inevitable," The Times of London reported Monday.

Berlusconi dismissed the letter and has vowed to continue appearing in public, said Sandro Bondi, the minister of culture and a close aide to Berlusconi.

Berlusconi already is under pressure from a series of sex scandals and he faces corruption charges. A poll suggested public support for Berlusconi had fallen from 62 percent a year ago to 45 percent as of last week.