Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi remains in hospital

Silvio Berlusconi remains in pain, his doctor says

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is to spend a fourth night in Milan's San Raffaele hospital as he recovers from an attack.

Doctors had expected to discharge him on Wednesday.

Mr Berlusconi suffered a fractured nose and two broken teeth when he was hit in the face by an object thrown at him.

Early Wednesday morning, a man was "immobilised" by bodyguards and police on the seventh floor of the hospital. He said he wanted to talk to the PM.

The man, 26, did not gain access to Mr Berlusconi's room, a police spokesman said.

Mr Berlusconi is still suffering from "persistent pain... and difficulty eating," his doctor Alberto Zangrillo said on Wednesday.

"Contrary to what we said yesterday, we consider it appropriate to extend by a day the prime minister's hospital stay," he added.

The prime minister has already cancelled a trip to the UN climate conference in Denmark, and a visit to the earthquake-hit town of L'Aquila on 24 December.

His attacker hurled a model of Milan cathedral into his face from close range after a rally.

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