El Pais published five of the hundreds of photos which Berlusconi had wanted to keep away from the public after a scandal broke over his friendship with Noemi Letizia, who, until recently, was a minor.

The five photos by Antonello Zappadu include shots of two scantily-clad women beside a hot tub, a naked man and Berlusconi walking around with a woman at his Villa Certosa on the Mediterranean island of Sardinia.

The Spanish newspaper did not say how it got hold of the photos, all of them taken by Zappadu between 2007 and 2009. The pictures were seized by prosecutors after Berlusconi's lawyers accused the photographer of violating the premier's privacy.

Private vacation

Though all the faces in the photos are blurred apart from Berlusconi's, former Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek appeared to acknowledge that he was in one of the photos,.

Topolanek, who had earlier denied the existence of such photographs, appeared to backtrack on Friday, telling reporters before casting his vote in the European elections that the picture had been doctored.

"It is obviously a photomontage," Pravo daily cited him as saying on its web site. "On the other hand, I view it as a brutal invasion of privacy. It was a private vacation."

The former Czech premier accused Socialists of deliberately running the picture on election day in the Czech Republic.

"I did not know that the European election was that important for the Socialists to use such ridiculous attacks and manipulations," reports cited him as saying.

No harm

The Italian daily La Repubblica also reproduced the photos, which El Pais said were exclusive, citing the copyright as belonging to Ecoprensa Colombia.

Berlusconi's lawyer Niccolo Ghedini said the photos had been published "illegally" without Berlusconi's permission.

The premier himself described the photos as harmless and their publication as a "scandalous aggression," explaining he did not fear the loss of Catholic votes in this weekend's European elections.

Spanish Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega declined to comment on the affair, saying the government "never judged" leaders of other countries.

mrm/dpa/Reuters/AP
Editor: Toma Tasovac