Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi on Thursday denied having threatened to send in police to break up student sit-ins in the wake of nationwide protests against government education reforms.
''I have never said nor thought that the police should enter schools,'' he said.
''I simply said that people who want to protest are free to do so, but that they cannot force others who do not agree with them to renounce their basic right (to study)''.
The premier said that students who wanted to protest in the city streets and squares were ''welcome'' to do so, but those who insisted on occupying schools would have to be ''convinced'' otherwise.
''I have in mind some very entertaining methods (of how to convince them), but I'm not going to tell you to avoid making headlines,'' he said.
On Wednesday the premier described sit-ins as ''violent acts'' and said he would meet with Interior Minister Roberto Maroni to discuss ''how the police should intervene''.
While denying he had said police should be sent into schools, the premier made no mention of his plans for sit-ins at universities, which continued for the third day running on Thursday.
