Governments back Alitalia-Lufthansa deal

BERLIN (Reuters) - The German and Italian leaders on Monday backed a potential agreement between Alitalia AZPIa.MI and Lufthansa (LHAG.DE) on the German airline taking a minority stake in the Italian carrier.

"We have said that we are open to international alliances and it would please us greatly if this alliance was with a country that we have worked with a lot, namely Germany," Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said at a joint news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin.

"For Italy this would be welcome and it's of course up to the two parties, Alitalia and Lufthansa, to decide if it would be convenient for both," he added.

Merkel said Germany would also welcome the deal.

"If it comes to such a decision -- and I'm glad to hear that Italy is still open on the question -- I would consider that very good and support it wholeheartedly," she said.

(Reporting by Iain Rogers, writing by Kerstin Gehmlich)