Dini denies role in telecom deal

The Italian Foreign Minister, Lamberto Dini, has denied to parliament any wrongdoing when the state-owned Italy Telecom bought half of the Serbian telephone company in 1997.

Prosecutors in Italy and Serbia are investigating allegations that millions of dollars in bribes were paid from the deal, which was worth nearly three-quarters-of-a-billion dollars.

Mr Dini also denied to the lower house of the Italian parliament that the deal was an attempt to support the then president, Slobodan Milosevic.

Opposition parties have been demanding an investigation into the allegations.

Italy Telecom has since been privatised.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service