Italy's 'Povero Cristo'; Embattled yet still flamboyant, Silvio Berlusconi gleefully takes on his critics, real and imaginary.

Byline: Christopher Dickey, Jacopo Barigazzi and Barbie Nadeau

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, 69, is one of the Bush administration's most faithful--and flamboyant--friends in Europe. The self-made billionaire and media magnate supports a close transatlantic alliance and sent thousands of Italian troops to Iraq as part of the post-invasion Coalition in 2003. But as he visits Washington this week, Berlusconi is under pressure. Running for re-election on April 9, he's trailing in the polls. A member of his cabinet was just forced to resign after taunting Muslims with a Muhammad-cartoon T shirt, provoking anti-Italian riots that cost at least 14 lives in Libya. Last week Berlusconi spoke with NEWSWEEK's Christopher Dickey, Jacopo Barigazzi and Barbie Nadeau. Excerpts:

You often speak of yourself as the salvation of the country. It's been said you compare yourself to Jesus Christ.

It's not true. I attended a fund-raising dinner where there were more than 400 people. I greeted everybody, shaking hands, taking pictures. I didn't manage to eat anything. I signed autographs. And then they wanted me to give a speech. So I went like this [he slumps in his chair ] and said, "You're asking a 'povero Cristo' to give a speech." You see, we say in Italian "poor Christ" when we mean "poor fellow." But I stopped myself. I smiled. I said, "Mamma mia, now they're going to say that I compare myself to Jesus Christ!"

OK, now that we've cleared that up, what about your claim that you'd give up sex until you win the election?

[Laughs. ] Absolutely the contrary. We were in Sardinia, a meeting of party officials. No journalists. At the end a priest came to me. He says, "Bless you." And he asked, "Will you make all the necessary sacrifices to win?" And I told him, "You're not asking me to take a vow of chastity until the end of the elections?" And he said, "No, I'm not asking you to do that!" And then somebody at the meeting probably said something outside.

Why so many misconceptions?