Minister says Italy seeks domestic solution for Alitalia

ROME (Reuters) - Italy's new economy minister said on Saturday the Rome government was seeking a "domestic solution" for ailing airline Alitalia AZPIa.MI involving private investors.

"We are seeking a fundamentally Italian, private solution. If it does not work, we will see," Giulio Tremonti, who took office this week in Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's new conservative government, told state television in an interview recorded on Saturday.

Berlusconi said last month an Italian business group plus banks and airlines -- none of whom he named -- would make a bid for the loss-making airline after a few weeks of due diligence.

(Reporting by Giuseppe Fonte, editing by David Christian-Edwards)