ROME Giulio Andreotti, a seven-time prime minister who over six decades helped guide Italy out of the wreckage of World War II and into a period of economic prosperity, died Monday.

WSJ: Italy's Seven-Time Premier Andreotti Dies at 94

Parliament elected him to the presidency in the spring of 1992, hours after the killing of a top Mafia prosecutor, Giovanni Falcone, had smashed the chances of the favourite, Giulio Andreotti (now on trial on charges of links with the Mafia).

ECONOMIST: Italy

The judiciary is still vilified, both because Mr Berlusconi has been convicted of various crimes (evidence, it is said, of judicial bias) and because Giulio Andreotti, a veteran politician of the old order, has been acquitted of colluding with the Mafia (further alleged evidence of bias).

ECONOMIST: Unchanging Italy