'U.S. had no intel on hostage presence'

(ANSA) - Rome, April 24 - The United States didn't know two Western hostages were in the compound it targeted in a CIA drone strike in January, Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni told the House Friday. "The government confirmed there was no information leading them to believe hostages were present," Gentiloni said, adding Italy pressed Pakistan to set up a task force to look for aid worker Giovanni Lo Porto as soon as he went missing in Pakistan in 2012. Italy "exerted maximum diplomatic pressure on local authorities to shed light on the incident," he said.