Former Italy PM Silvio Berlusconi has leukemia: source

Former Italy PM Silvio Berlusconi has leukemia: source

MILAN – Four-times Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has been diagnosed with leukemia, a source close to the matter said on Thursday, a day after he was admitted to intensive care with breathing problems.

The 86-year-old, whose media empire has made him a billionaire, is being treated in a cardiac unit of Milan’s San Raffaele hospital.

There has been no official comment on his condition, but the source’s diagnosis of leukemia, which is a cancer of the blood cells, confirmed a report in the Corriere della Sera daily.

Berlusconi’s Forza Italia party is part of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing coalition, though the former prime minister does not have a role in government.

“I spoke this morning with Professor (Alberto) Zangrillo

(Berlusconi’s personal doctor) and he told me that Berlusconi spent a quiet night, his condition is stable,” Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani told RAI state television.

Tajani, a long-time Berlusconi ally within Forza Italia, noted Berlusconi had survived a series of health problems.

“We all want to be optimistic and we hope that the lion will return soon to take charge of the party. He’s our political leader and of course he never gives up,” Tajani told the broadcaster.

The party subsequently released a statement saying Berlusconi had spoken in the morning to senior Forza Italia allies and urged “maximum commitment” in parliament. “The country needs us,” he was quoted as saying.