Prodi re-confirmed Italy prime minister

ROME, Mar 2 (Reuters) Italian centre-left leader Romano Prodi was re-confirmed as prime minister today when he won a second and final confidence vote in parliament, ending a political crisis and ensuring there will be no snap election.

He won by 342 votes to 198 with 2 abstentions in the lower house, a much wider margin than in Wednesday's vote in the upper house, or Senate.

Prodi resigned last week after splits in his centre-left coalition meant he lost a foreign policy vote. But he was then instructed by President Giorgio Napolitano to test his majority in parliament to see if he had the support to return to power.

''It was a good vote,'' Prodi told reporters. ''A great margin, but also the debate showed the centre left is much more united than the centre right and that means the government's work will go ahead strongly. We can go forward well.'' But Prodi's grip on power remains fragile as he has only a wafer-thin majority in the Senate and will have to guard against coalition defections, especially on foreign policy and finance.

REUTERS SP BST1903