Gaddafi could take desperate steps -Italy minister

"There is a possibility, indeed a real possibility, that Gaddafi might make a desperate last-ditch attempt to free himself from the siege that he finds himself in," said Paolo Romani on Italian television.

Romani was responding to an interviewer who asked if Italy feared that Gaddafi might do something extreme and desperate, such as bombing oil fields.

Romani said that for the time being there was no immediate danger to Italian oil and gas supplies. Italy relies on imports for more than 80 percent of its energy needs and gets about 25 percent of its oil and 12 percent of its gas from Libya.

"All told, I think the supply situation is a bit more stable than a few days ago," he said.

(Editing by Peter Graff)