Prodi under fire from allies for newspaper interview

ROME, June 8 (Reuters) Prime Minister Romano Prodi came under fire from allies and opponents today for reportedly implying that Italy's communists were more style than substance and for saying Silvio Berlusconi had ''enslaved'' the country.

Prodi's office issued a statement saying he had not used the words in an interview with Germany's Die Zeit. The weekly said it stood ''word for word'' by what it had published.

Die Zeit editor Giovanni Di Lorenzo told Reuters in Berlin that the weekly ''regretted that Prodi apparently now wanted to retract'' parts of the interview.

In the interview, which was run in full by the Rome daily La Repubblica, Prodi implied that Italian communists were less substantial politicians than Germany's far-leftist party, headed by Oskar Lafontaine.

''We are Italian, we have more folklore, we have Communist Refoundation and the Party of Italian Communists ... compared to Lafontaine, they are rather innocuous,'' he said.

Prodi's communist allies were riled at being called members of folkloristic parties.

''If this is true, then Prodi really offended more than three million people who, by voting for Communist Refoundation and the Party of Italian Communists, permitted the centre-left coalition to win and him to govern,'' said Marco Rizzo, a communist MP.

''I would humbly suggest that a personal denial from Prodi would be useful. The loyalty of our coalition cannot be made to look ridiculous...our patience is being sorely tried,'' he said.

Prodi's centre-left coalition, which includes eight parties ranging from Catholics to communists, was formed last month after narrowly defeating Berlusconi's bloc in April elections.

Prodi also came under fire from the opposition for comments aimed at Berlusconi and the government he led for five years.

''Before, this country was enslaved. The former prime minister could do whatever he wanted,'' the weekly quoted Prodi as saying.

Sandro Bondi, a leading member of Berlusconi's Forza Italia party, said Prodi's words smacked of ''nasty schoolboy behaviour'' and demanded a formal apology.

''If this is the tone of dialogue that the government intends to have with the opposition, we take note of that. We just want to know if this is Prodi's personal opinion or that of the entire government,'' Bondi said.

Another member of Berlusconi's party, Fabrizio Cicchitto, accused Prodi of behaving like a ''delirious Napoleon''.

REUTERS KD RAI1913