Italy's Berlusconi says he won't quit

ROME, Nov. 11 (UPI) -- Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi Thursday rejected a call from the speaker of the Italian House for him to resign, party sources say.

Members of the People of Freedom party told the ANSA news agency Berlusconi, who is in South Korea attending the G20 summit, said if House Speaker Giafranco Fini thought he should resign, Fini would have to "come out into the open and vote me out in parliament."

ANSA said Berlusconi ally Umberto Bossi of the Northern League was mediating with Fini to avert a political crisis in Italy. Fini, a former member of the People of Freedom party, holds the balance of power in the Italian House and has demanded the scandal-plagued Berlusconi step down so the ruling coalition can change its policies.

Berlusconi has threatened to break with the coalition and join with other centrist groups that would support him forming a new Italian government.