Ruby Mubarak niece claim result of 'confusion'

Silvio Berlusconi thought that the alleged prostitute at the centre of a sex case against him was the niece of former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak as the result of a misunderstanding, the ex-premier's former councillor for international relations, Valentino Valentini, told a Milan court on Friday. Berlusconi is on trial for reportedly paying for sex with Karima 'Ruby' El Mahroug, a Moroccan-born belly dancer, when she was underage and for allegedly coercing police into releasing her after an unrelated theft claim to hush up the fact. On that occasion he used the claim that she was Mubarak's niece as a lever to help secure her release. It later emerged that there was no connection between the two. Valentini said to the court that during an official lunch in Rome on May 19, 2010, Berlusconi told Mubarak that he had met an Egyptian girl called Ruby belonging to a family known to the Egyptian president. This led to "a somewhat confused conversation, an unordered discussion" as to whether or not the Ruby in question was a famous Egyptian singer and concerning the level of Mubarak's "familiarity" with the girl. Valentini also told the court that it had been his idea to intervene with the police on Ruby's behalf. He added that a few days later Berlusconi came back to the matter, saying "that girl told me a load of rubbish".