President George W. Bush and Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi are meeting in Washington next week, the White House announced today as the Italian leader was acquitted of corruption charges. The two leaders are scheduled to meet at the White House on December 15, spokesman Scott McClellan said. Bush and Berlusconi have a close relationship, built mostly around the contribution of Italian troops to the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq despite widespread domestic opposition to the war. The two leaders also share similar backgrounds as wealthy, conservative politicians. Berlusconi, whose media empire has made him Italy's richest man, had been accused of bribing judges, but a Milan court today acquitted him of corruption charges in a major victory in the billionaire's decade-long battle against legal problems that he blamed on left-wing prosecutors.
