Italian Senate Panel Recommends Berlusconi's Expulsion

Final decision should be this month

An Italian Senate committee on Friday recommended that former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi be expelled from parliament after his conviction for tax fraud, paving the way for a final decision this month that could seal his political fate.

The recommendation to kick out the man who has dominated Italian politics for the past two decades was taken by a cross-party committee of 23 Senators dominated by the center-right leader's political opponents.

It will have to be ratified later this month by a vote of the full Senate, where Berlusconi's supporters are also in a minority, before he loses his seat.