Italy's foreign minister Luigi Di Maio on Wednesday thanked United States secretary of state Mike Pompeo for his country's "attention" in the case of Italian television producer Chico Forti who was convicted and sentenced to life in jail for the 1998 murder of an Australian.
"Italy cares deeply about this case and continues its commitment to it with all its force," Di Maio said.
He was speaking at a joint press conference during a visit by Pompei to Rome.
Forti, a former windsurfing champion, has always denied that he killed Dale Pike, who had travelled to Miami to meet with Forti about a business deal.
Italy's foreign ministry said on in November last year that the government wanted a judicial review by US authorities of Forte's conviction by a Florida court in 2000, a sentence that became final in 2010 after all his appeals failed.
If Forti's case was not reviewed in the US and he was not acquitted of Pike's murder, the government will seek to have him transferred to Italy to serve his sentence "closer to his relations", the statement said.
