ROME - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is in Rome to hold talks with Italy's Silvio Berlusconi on the global economic crisis.
Brown also has an appointment at the Vatican with Pope Benedict XVI. Berlusconi's office says the talks with Brown today will help prepare for a G-20 summit next April in London and a G-8 meeting in Sardinia next July.
The two premiers will also discuss the Middle East and Afghanistan.
Both leaders have called on countries to avoid protectionism and increase co-operation to help restore growth.
In a statement to Italian newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore, Brown and Berlusconi urged world leaders to work to stabilize financial markets.
