ROME, Jan. 3 (Xinhuanet) -- The leader of Italy's biggest opposition party came under fire on Tuesday after a newspaper published transcripts of his phone conversations with an insurance company chief tainted by recent financial scandals, the Italian News Agency ANSA reported.

    According to the transcripts, Italian Democratic Left party chief Piero Fassino expressed clear support when talking to the Italian insurance company Unipol chief Giovanni Consorte about the insurer's takeover bid for an Italian bank Banca Nazionale del Lavoro (BNL).

    Unipol, which launched its bid in July, is indirectly controlled by Italy's system of food and agriculture cooperatives, which traditionally lean to the left and see the Italian Democratic Left party as a reference point.

    The conversations between Fassino and Consorte, taped by investigators in July, were published by Il Giornale, a newspaper owned by the family of Italy's centre-right premier, Silvio Berlusconi.

    In one of the exchanges Fassino is cited as saying: "So we own a bank then." In another he gives Consorte advice on when to take legal action connected with the bid for BNL.

    With elections only a few months away, Fassino was criticized by members of his own party who said he had made a potentially decisive mistake by supporting Consorte's takeover bid.

    Consorte, who resigned on Dec. 28, 2005, has since been under investigation for possible crimes ranging from market rigging to regulatory obstruction.

    Fassino himself protested about the publication of the transcripts on Monday, saying they were part of a political attack on him by the newspaper.

    Unipol announced its 5-billion euro offer for BNL, Italy's sixth largest bank, in July but is still waiting for approval from the Bank of Italy. The decision is expected next week. Enditem