Munich - An Italian restaurant operator won a lawsuit Tuesday against a German book author who claimed he was a mid-level boss in the 'Ndrangheta organized-crime network in Calabria.

Journalist Petra Reski said she was told by a senior Rome policeman that the Italian, who used to run a pizza bar in the central German city of Erfurt, was under suspicion as a mobster.

But the court in Munich said this could not be proved.

It heard an appeal Monday from Reski's publisher, Droemer Verlag, against an injunction to remove the man's name from Reski's book, which is entitled, "Mafia: A Tale of Godfathers, Pizzerias and Fake Priests."

She told judges Monday the names of her sources, including an anti-Mafia prosecutor in Rome who showed her documents and spoke to her. The investigator said the pizza man was in a "senior position" in the 'Ndrangheta.

She added that German prosecutors in two cities had told later told her this part of her book was correct.

But judges said doubts about the truth of her book needed to be overcome by the author, not the Italian plaintiff. His lawyer told the court the allegations about his client were untrue.

He no longer lives in Erfurt, according to state of Thuringia police authorities in a recent reply to a question in the state legislature. Police in another German state, North Rhine Westphalia, considered him a mid-level 'Ndrangheta figure, the answer said. (dpa)