Berlusconi says Alitalia to remain Italian as rescue gathers pace

0 Comments | AFP, August, 2008

ROME (AFP) — Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said Thursday that a rescue plan put together for near bankrupt flag carrier Alitalia means the company will remain Italian, as he had promised at polls in April.

"The management of Alitalia will remain in the hands of Italians," Berlusconi said after the government approved a rescue plan for the airline.

"Prospective foreign partners will take a stake (in the new company) only as minority shareholders," he told a news conference.

In Paris, Air France-KLM, spurned as a buyer in April, said it was ready to take a minority stake in the new company being set up to relaunch Alitalia.

Berlusconi claimed that his proposals had saved the airline from being sold off cheaply, as the previous government had...