MILAN: Italy is not opposed to foreign ownership of Telecom Italia s network but must not let it fall into the hands of Islamic militants or the Mafia, Infrastructure Minister Antonio Di Pietro said on Monday. Di Pietro s comments came after Pirelli & C and Telefonica said they had held talks about a possible investment by the Spanish company in Telecom Italia s parent company, Olimpia, which is controlled by Pirelli. His comments contradicted those made last week by Communications Minister Paolo Gentiloni, who said the government expected Telecom Italia s network to remain in Italian hands. Speaking for the government as a whole, I say we are Europeans and we do not set any limit on the Italian or foreign ownership of public networks, Di Pietro said on the sidelines of conference in Milan. But he said any foreign investor needed a solid industrial plan and should not pose a security threat. Italy has to know if behind the networks there s a great entrepreneur or a Toto Riina or a bin Laden, Di Pietro said, referring to a convicted Italian Mafia boss and to Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Di Pietro said he had opposed the sale of a controlling stake in Italian telecoms firm Wind to Weather Investments. I was against letting Wind fall into the hands of a strange character, linked to a series of strange people who are also close to Saddam, Di Pietro told reporters, referring to former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, who was hanged in December. However di Pietro gave no further information on these alleged links. Weather is controlled by Egyptian businessman Naguib Sawiris. An assistant to the Egyptian businessman told Reuters that Sawiris did not believe Di Pietro had made the statement, and therefore had no comment. Asked later if he wanted to retract or amend his statement about Wind, Di Pietro said: If someone wants to sue me for this, I won t take a step back, I ll take two forward. Last year, the Italian government clashed with Telecom Italia over a planned change in its strategy that could have led to the sale of its mobile unit, TIM, possibly to foreign investors - a prospect that is anathema to some in the government. The dispute led to the resignation of Telecom Italia Chairman Marco Tronchetti Provera. An adviser to the prime minister had also outlined a plan to spin off Telecom Italia s network and let a state holding company take a stake in it, thereby avoiding its falling into foreign hands. In another merger deal, Di Pietro put enough hurdles in front of a planned purchase of Italian highway manager Autostrade by Spanish peer Abertis to make the companies abandon the deal. An Italian diplomatic source said on Monday that relations between Italy and Spain were excellent, and Rome s opposition to the Abertis-Autostrade deal should not be regarded as emblematic of any reluctance to let Spanish investors enter the Italian market. There is no closure in principle to Spanish investments in Italy, the source told Reuters ahead of Prime Minister Romano Prodi s visit to Spain on Tuesday. However, the source declined to comment on Telefonica possibly buying an indirect minority stake in Telecom Italia. It s early, we should let the companies work, the source said.
