Italy's Prime Minister-designate Giuseppe Conte met with the head of state Sergio Mattarella on Friday, a source from the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement said, as Conte laboured to put together his cabinet team.

Conte has been discussing with his political backers who will be in his government since he was given a mandate to form a government by Mattarella on Wednesday.

Conte went to the president's palace for an "informal discussion," not to present his cabinet, said the source from 5-Star, one of the two parties that will be supporting Conte's government in parliament.

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