Italy's scandal-mired Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi will seek respite from his domestic woes when he plays host to leaders of the Group of Eight (G8) industrialised nations from Wednesday to Friday in L'Aquila, barely 100 days since the city was devastated by an earthquake which claimed 299 lives.

While the gathering had originally been due to take place in Sardinia, Berlusconi switched the venue to L'Aquila, arguing that the city can serve as a symbol of hope and renewal.

But the aftershocks that can still be felt may also serve as a reminder of how the global financial system has been rocked to its foundationns in recent months.

The G8 -- which comprises Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the Unites States -- has found itself somewhat overshadowed by the emergence of the G20 which includes emerging powerhouses such as China and India.

According to a senior White House official, US President Barack Obama sees the L'Aquila meeting as an opportunity for a progress report on efforts to shore up the global economy since London hosted a G20 summit in April.

"It's a time when the leaders can get together and assess where they are in the economic recovery effort, what further steps need to be taken to restore the balance of economic growth, expand and restore exports, and create jobs," said Michael Froman, deputy national security advisor for international economic affairs.

At the G20 summit in London, Obama and his peers agreed to commit one trillion dollars to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other global bodies to help struggling economies.

John Kirton, director of a research unit on G8 at Toronto University, said the G8 would be focused less on pump priming measures now that the financial crisis seems to be abating but rather on an endgame.

"There will be a vigorous discussion on when will be the time to shift from stimulus to exit strategy," he said.

While the state of the global economy will dominate proceedings, efforts to combat global warming will also feature prominently at an enlarged gathering on Thursday which will include leaders of Australia, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, South Africa and South Korea.

The G8 has prepared a draft communique calling on global emissions to peak by 2020 and then be "substantially reduced" to peg the rise in global temperatures to two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) over pre-industrial levels.

Kim Carstensen, the leader of the environmental group WWF's Global Climate Initiative, said that it was vital that the G8 provided leadership in the build-up to a new climate pact due to be agreed by year's end in Copenhagen.

"The countries gathering in L'Aquila have the biggest responsibility to show leadership on climate. Without their action we cannot expect the rest of the world to move," he added.

The summit also offers the G8 leaders an opportunity to discuss the post-election turmoil in Iran as well as North Korea's nuclear ambitions.

Berlusconi had said that possible sanctions against Iran would be discussed during the G8 meeting, although his foreign minister later rowed back from those comments.

And on Friday, African leaders will meet up with their G8 counterparts to persuade them to make good on previous aid pledges as well as discussing the issue of food security.

In a letter to the summit host Berlusconi, Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday called on the Group of Eight industrialised nations to "upgrade" their development aid to Africa and the world's poorest countries in spite of the financial crisis.

During the course of summit, anti-globalisation protests have been scheduled both in L'Aquila as well as in Rome, around an hour's drive away.

The conduct of the Italian police will be under close scrutiny with memories still raw over the fatal shooting of a demonstrator at Genoa in 2001 when Italy last hosted the G8 leaders.

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