'Week of fire' in Italian scandal

ROME (Reuter) - Italian judges have promised a 'week of fire' ahead in the country's fast-growing bribery scandal. After a weekend which saw a former cabinet minister and a clutch of top industrialists implicated in corruption investigations, judicial sources said much more was to come. 'It is going to be a week of fire,' said one source close to the investigation.

Observers fear the sheer scale of the scandal risks destabilising the country. The latest victim is Paolo Cirino Pomicino, the Christian Democrat budget minister in the administration of the Prime Minister, Giulio Andreotti, which ended last year.

Yesterday, the former Socialist leader, Bettino Craxi, hinted he would make potentially explosive disclosures in the battle to clear his name of corruption charges. 'I am going to have to reveal many things,' he said. 'I want all things Italian to be brought to justice.'