The United States yesterday formally apologized to Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi for distributing to reporters an "insulting" biography of him that said he was "hated by many".

The description was included in a thick press kit distributed to reporters traveling with US President George W. Bush from Washington to the Group of Eight summit in Japan that Berlusconi was also attending.

The four-page biography, pulled from the Encyclopedia of World Biography Supplement, refers to Berlusconi as "hated by many but respected by all at least for his bella figura (personal style) and the sheer force of his will".