Rome:
'Ruby Heartstealer', the woman at the centre of a sex scandal involving Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, has appeared in an advertisement for a book, just wearing her underwear.
The Moroccan girl, Karima el-Mahroug, who is known as Ruby Rubacuori or Ruby Heartstealer, shocked Italian audiences by promoting a book called Il Labirinto Femminile, only a few weeks after claiming to have joined Berlusconi's sex parties at his villa in Milan.
An Italian judge on Tuesday ordered Berlusconi to stand trial on charges he paid for sex withKarima when she was 17-years-old and then tried to cover it up.
The author of the book, Alfonso Luigi Marra suggested on Monday that the scandal is representative of the Italian regime.
"Ruby symbolises Berlusconi at the moment, for which reason she attracted so much public attention all around the world," Marra said. "For this reason she can say that they are searching to create a scapegoat, it is a good way to communicate."
The premier, who willingly acknowledges his fondness for pretty young women, claims he is being victimised by leftist prosecutors who want to topple him from power.
While Berlusconi has stood trial on a number of business-related charges, this is the first time the 74-year-old billionaire businessman is being tried for personal conduct.