'Bribe bid to change Berlusconi girl's birth record'

Italian prosecutors have opened an investigation into a suspected attempt to falsify the birth records of the teenager at the centre of the underage sex scandal engulfing prime minister Silvio Berlusconi.

Judicial sources said the inquiry had been opened against unknown individuals alleged to have tried to bribe a Moroccan official to change the birth records of Karima El Mahroug.

Berlusconi has been charged with paying for sex with Ms El Mahroug - whose stage name is Ruby - last year, when she was under the legal age limit of 18, and with abusing the powers of his office by intervening with police in a bid to cover up his connection with her.

His trial is scheduled to begin on 6 April. Berlusconi has denied having sex with Ms El Mahroug, who admitted receiving €7,000 from him. He has said he merely wanted to help someone out.

According to the newspaper Il Fatto Quotidiano, two Italian men offered a registry official in a Moroccan town thousands of euros last month to change the records for Ms El Mahroug.

Prostitution is not illegal in Italy, but it is an offence to pay for sex with someone under 18.