I'm not in charge of AGI says Meloni

(ANSA) - ROME, APR 18 - Premier Giorgia Meloni said Thurdday she was not in charge of AGI, the energy giant Eni-owned second biggest Italian press agency rumoured to be set for sale to rightwing newspaper owner and League MP Antonio Angelucci amid conflict of interest and freedom of information fears.
    "The Agi affair is one about which I have read so many falsehoods that I feared Italy has now become the home of fake news. I know nothing about what Eni is doing with Agi: I have no interest in the matter," said Meloni addressing suggestions that the economy ministry, which owns AGI through its control of Eni, is currently run by a party colleague of Angelucci's, Giancarlo Giorgetti, a League bigwig.
    "The investor companies must do their part in the national interest. I don't deal with it, it's not my business and it shouldn't be my business. If anything, I wonder whether it is normal for an investor company to have an agency, this could be a restriction on freedom of the press".
    Giorgetti too has said it is an "anomaly" for the government to have a press agency, even indirectly.
    Angelucci, 79, already owns conservative dailies Il Tempo, Il Giornale (ex-Berlusconi) and Libero and his bid for AGI has been criticised on competition, freedom of information and conflict of interest grounds.
    AGI journalists have been striking against the proposed deal and the Italian journalists union FNSI has also voiced these concerns. (ANSA).