A weekend rally by Silvio Berlusconi in northern Italy has heightened tensions in the uneasy new coalition government, with Prime Minister Enrico Letta on Sunday demanding that his ministers stay away from such gatherings. Former prime minister Berlusconi, whose People of Freedom party has joined the grand left-right coalition, told a crowd assembled in a square in the northern town of Brescia on Saturday that he remained loyal to the government.

MILAN (Reuters) - An Italian prosecutor is seeking a six-year jail sentence for former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi for allegedly having sex with an underage nightclub dancer during notorious 'bunga bunga' parties at his villa outside Milan. The prosecutor also asked for a lifetime ban on holding public office. The 76-year-old billionaire media tycoon and center-right political leader stands accused of having had sex with Karima El Maroug, better known by her stage name 'Ruby the Heartstealer', when she was a minor.

An Italian court on Wednesday upheld a tax fraud conviction for former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, confirming his sentence of one year in prison and a five-year ban from public office. "The court confirms the sentence against Silvio Berlusconi," a judge in Milan said in a live audio feed broadcast by news channel Sky TG 24. Berlusconi is now expected to appeal the ruling in Italy's highest court, which would suspend the punishment pending a final ruling in the case which revolves around his Mediaset business empire.

Silvio Berlusconi affirmed over the weekend his centre-right movement's loyalty to the grand coalition government of Prime Minister Enrico Letta at a rally in a northern city which attracted noisy support and dissent. "We believe in the government and we loyally support it because it is committed to achieving measures which we regard as vital for reviving the economy," former prime minister Berlusconi told the crowds in Brescia on Saturday. "Contracts between right-minded people are respected" and "I am a loyal person" he told them.