ROME - ITALY'S gaffe-prone Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on Thursday praised US president-elect Barack Obama as 'young, handsome and tanned', prompting harsh criticism from left-wing politicians.

He made the comment in Moscow in answer to a question during a joint news conference following economic talks with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev.

'I think that there is going to be good cooperation' between Obama and Medvedev, said Mr Berlusconi. 'He has everything needed to reach deals with him: he's young, handsome and even tanned.'

The remark sounds like 'a dangerously ambiguous insult', said Mr Dario Franceschini of Italy's centre-left opposition Democratic Party, calling on Mr Berlusconi to apologise 'immediately'.

'Berlusconi cannot control himself in the best of circumstances,' Mr Franceschini said, adding: 'He forgets that his words hurt our country's image in the world.'

Mr Berlusconi, a staunch ally of outgoing US President George W Bush, responded to the criticism by saying he had intended his remark as a 'great compliment'.

The flamboyant self-made billionaire, who is himself permatanned, and has had cosmetic surgery and hair implants, is known the world over for politically incorrect comments and gaffes.

While campaigning for elections in 2006, he famously said that Chinese people 'boiled babies for fertiliser' during the Mao Zedong era.

In April this year, Mr Berlusconi likened EU regulations to what 'mosquitoes do on elephants' backsides, with little result but annoying all the same'.

'With his heavy and unfortunate jokes, Berlusconi discredits Italy on the international stage,' said Mr Massimo Donadi, parliamentary leader of the smaller opposition Italy of Values party. 'Never has a prime minister fallen so low.'

On Thursday the Italian leader also warned that Mr Obama, who will become the United States' first black president on Jan 20, would have to deal with inflated expectations from a world that has portrayed him 'almost as a messiah'. -- AFP