Moroccan teenage dancer at the heart of scandal involving Silvio Berlusconi plans to tie wed 41-year-old disco manager
Moroccan teenage dancer at the heart of scandal involving Silvio Berlusconi plans to tie wed 41-year-old disco managerRuby 'the heart stealer,' the young Moroccan who sparked an investigation into Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi for allegedly paying for sex with a minor, announced yesterday she is about to get married.
Karima "Ruby" El Mahroug (18), told a newspaper she would marry her fiance, 41-year-old disco manager Luca Rizzo, and live in the northern city of Genoa.
The belly dancer said she would like to finish high school. Asked about Berlusconi, accused of sex with an under-age prostitute, she said he was a "lonely" man.
Mahroug, who turned 18 in November, has always denied having sex with the prime minister when she was 17.
However, she admitted accepting a "gift" of 7,000 euros (Rs 4.40 lakh) after attending a party held by the head of Italy's government last year.
Berlusconi (74), also denies having sex with Miss Mahroug. He has refused to attend questioning and has vowed to punish magistrates who, he insists, are pursuing a political vendetta against him.
An opinion poll carried by the newspaperu00a0 yesterday suggested that his popularity rating had fallen from 40 per cent to 35 per cent since December.
Speaking in an interview for the paper, Mahroug said she and her fiance planned to have a civil marriage in three weeks' time, followed by a church wedding in June.
She was, she said, "not at all" worried about the investigation into Berlusconi, pointing out that she only featured in it as a witness.
On her feelings about Berlusconi, she said: "He (Berlusconi) is alone and struggling with loneliness, a bit like myself," she said.
Asked whether she would choose to be Ruby if she could relive her life, she said: "If I could
back, I would not do it again."
Knicker protestA GROUP of women are planning to throw knickers at the mansion of playboy Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi. The bizarre protest, due to be held on Sunday, is over his attitude to women and his involvement in an alleged prostitution ring.
