Riot breaks out on streets of Rome as scandal-hit Silvio Berlusconi survives as Italian premier by just THREE votes

• Armed police throw up ring of steel round parliament
• Ushers pull apart brawling MPs
• Claims he bought up anti-sleaze opponents to beat no-confidence motion

Incredulity quickly turned to fury today after Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi survived not one but two no-confidence votes in parliament.
The multi-millionaire premier has been dogged by sex scandals and fraud allegations during his highly controversial stint in office but somehow managed to hang on to his position.
Riots erupted on the streets of Rome as protesters failed to come to terms with the fact that Teflon-coated Berlusconi, 74, had scraped through by just three votes.
Inside the parliament chamber, ushers had to pull apart brawling MPs and members of the opposition claimed crucial votes had been 'bought' by his party'. An investigation has been already launched into the allegations.
After surviving the two votes, the first in the Senate and a second, closer one in the lower house, the media tycoon beamed - quickly accepting a congratulatory kiss from a blonde MP.


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Turmoil: Demonstrators clash with police in Rome's Piazza del Popolo after Premier Silvio Berlusconi survived back-to-back votes of confidence in the Italian parliament

Taunting: Anti-Berlusconi protesters primed for the result took to the streets to vent their frustration at the police, smashing shop windows and setting cars alight

Brawling erupted between MPs belonging to Future and Liberty, the breakaway party formed by Berlusconi's former ally of 14 years Gianfranco Fini, and those belonging to the Prime Minister's People of Freedom party.
As his victory by 314 votes to 311 became clear, the violent scenes inside parliament were matched outside, where streets were closed off by armoured police vans as a ring of steel was thrown around the parliament building in the centre of Rome.Angry mobs were smashing shop windows, setting cars on fire and hurling firecrackers, eggs and paint.

Following the disturbances 40 people were treated for minor injuries - three of them police - at one point an officer who was being attacked was seen to draw his gun as he was beaten to the ground by a mob.
The officer - serving with the customs police - was in a Rome hospital suffering from shock and bruising.
A source within the Customs police said: 'He did not draw his weapon to fire it but to prevent it being taken by the rioters. 

the parliament building in the centre of Rome.
Angry mobs were smashing shop windows, setting cars on fire and hurling firecrackers, eggs and paint.

Following the disturbances 40 people were treated for minor injuries - three of them police - at one point an officer who was being attacked was seen to draw his gun as he was beaten to the ground by a mob.
The officer - serving with the customs police - was in a Rome hospital suffering from shock and bruising.
A source within the Customs police said: 'He did not draw his weapon to fire it but to prevent it being taken by the rioters. 

Witnesses said that the officer was pictured after he had lost his radio and his helmet.
'This officer was attacked by several rioters and he was courageously defending his weapon - he did not use and had no intention of using it and he was eventually rescued by his colleagues.'
In 2001 protester Carlo Giuliani was shot dead by a paramilitary carabinieri police officer as he attacked his armoured car with a fire extinguisher during fierce riots at a G8 summit in Genoa.

 

Officials had to step in when deputies began fighting after a member of the Futura e Liberta (FLI) group decided to give her voice to Berlusconi during the confidence vote at the Chamber of Deputies, the Italian lower house

Outside the parliament building a police vehicle was ignited during anti-government clashes

Vehicles burned on the street near the parliament building during the clashes

This officer was tackled to the ground, gun in hand, as a riot officer ran to his aid

Dozens of people were arrested and firefighters were called to deal with six burnt out vehicles in the Piazza del Popolo area including a police van, rubbish truck and four private cars which had been torched.
The famous square was a battleground and littered with tear gas shells, poles, bottles, bolts and chairs while shopkeepers who had been forced to pull down shutters as the riot erupted later emerged to clear the debris.
Christmas shoppers, tourists and school children were caught up in the violent scenes which lasted more than four hours with isolated skirmishes between protesters and police going on into the evening across Rome.
Violence was not just limited to the Italian capital with demonstrators clashing with police in Milan where the Stock Exchange was stormed and briefly occupied.

 

Action of rage: Firemen extinguish a car set on fire at Piazza del Popolo after antigovernment clashes with youths

Moving in: Anti-government protesters clash with riot police today near the Italian parliament, Rome

Rome

Uprising: Youth clash with policemen on motorbikes today during the protest

Rome's right wing mayor Gianni Alemanno was booed by demonstrators as he arrived at Piazza del Popolo to see the damage and said:'Today Rome has been offended by unprecedented scenes of violence.

'This gratuitous violence took place in the historic centre of the city, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, it is scandalous and no social or political motivation can excuse it.'

Tonight it emerged that the brawl in parliament between MPs broke out after a colleague of Ms Polidori from Future and Liberty had called her a 'whore' for voting with Berlusconi.

Berlusconi, who has faced 18 months of sleazy sex scandals and accusations of ineffective government during the economic crisis won the vote in the Senate by 162 to 135.
Political commentators said that, although Berlusconi had scraped through, the tiny majority would ensure him short term survival but did not bode well for the future.

Rome burns: Smoke billows next to the twin churches of Santa Maria in Monesanto, left, and Santa Maria dei Miracoli, in Piazza del Popolo Square, during clashes between protesters and police

Demonstrators laid into Guardia di Finanza police officers during the riots. Her one lies on the ground being beaten by masked men

 

Bloody day: An injured demonstrator is led away by police after a crowd targeted shops and ATMs in Rome

As the double vote took place there were violent clashes outside with protesters hurling eggs, paint, firecrackers and metal poles at police in riot gear.
An estimated 50,000 crowd had descended on Rome made up of students, university researchers and unemployed who were joined with victims from last year's earthquake in Abruzzo complaining that they still had not been housed.
During this morning's vote in the Senate, anti sleaze senator Antonio Di Pietro accused Berlusconi of being 'morally responsible for the crime of buying opposition MPs to help secure victory'.
As he spoke, Berlusconi walked out of the chamber with Di Pietro ridiculing him and saying: 'That's it run away. You have ridiculed Italy abroad and we are treated like a buffoon.'
After the vote marchers - many of them wearing 'For Sale' signs in protest at claims that Berlusconi had bought MPs - continued to clash with police throughout the centre of Rome.

Outside anti-government protesters clashed with riot police in Montecitorio square, near the Italian parliament. Here pyrotechnics are seen exploding

Calm down: Silvio Berlusconi, flanked by foreign minister Franco Frattini (left), economy minister Giulio Tremonti (second left) and the Northern league leader Umberto Bossi gestures towards opposition MPs

Several banks were targeted by demonstrators with one branch having a road sign smashed through the glass and another having a cash point destroyed and windows broken.
Experts say that Berlusconi will now focus on winning the centrist UDC party in a bid to shore up his government and avoid elections which are not scheduled until 2013.
After the vote a jubilant Berlusconi said: 'I told you, I knew Future and Liberty would split,' in a reference to rebels within the breakaway Fini group who had backed him.

The violent anti-government protesters clash with riot police 

Youths rioted in the street, facing the police and demanding a change of government as parliament instead voted their confidence in scandal-plagued Berlusconi 

Scores of anti-Berlusconi demonstrations were underway in cities across Italy during the vote

Fini, who is the speaker of the lower house and who does not get a vote, looked furious and said: 'I have nothing to say now. There'll be time to comment later.' Earlier he had called on Berlusconi to 'do the honourable thing and resign.'
Pier Luigi Bersani of the Democratic Party, the largest opposition group, said the wafer-thin majority win 'doesn't change a thing, the government isn't going to make it (to the end of its term in 2013).'

The women in his life: Karima Keyek (left), the Moroccan model allegedly linked with Berlusconi is seen at a restaurant in Genoa and Nadia Macri (right), who claimed he had paid her the equivalent of £10,000 for sex at his villa in Sardinia last year

Bunga bunga: Silvio Berlusconi, pictured on a stroll in Sardinia in 2004 with two unidentified women has cultivated his playboy image