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M. Continuo

Berlusconi wins Senate confidence vote


    ROME (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi easily won a confidence motion as expected in the Senate on Tuesday, but he now faces a second vote in the lower house that could force him to resign.

    The centre-right government's secure majority in the upper house meant there was little doubt about the motion it had called itself to underline its legitimacy.

    The lower house is due to vote later on Tuesday on a no-confidence motion brought by the centre-left opposition and backed by rebel centre-right deputies loyal to Berlusconi's rival Gianfranco Fini.

    (Editing by Barry Moody)