Kremlin losing patience with maverick Italians

The Kremlin has fiercely denounced the leadership of the Italian Communist Party under Enrico Berlinguer and said it was steering the party away from the very basis of Communism.

The attack, in the Soviet Communist Party daily Pravda, said the leadership of the independent-minded Italian party (PCI) had adopted positions that directly helped anti-Communist forces in the world. The party has taken a strong anti-Soviet line on Poland.