UPDATE 1-Investigators mull T.Italia, Pirelli probe-sources

(adds Telecom Italia and Pirelli statements)

MILAN, July 19 (Reuters) - Italian magistrates are examining whether Telecom Italia (TLIT.MI: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Pirelli (PECI.MI: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) may be held accountable for staff who spied on several Italian public figures, sources familiar with the situation said on Saturday.

Pirelli held an indirect controlling stake in Telecom Italia until last October.

The two companies face potential fines of up to one million euros if found guilty of violating Italian law requiring employers to prevent employees from acting illegally, the sources said.

The decision to investigate them follows more than two years of probes into alleged spying and the provision of personal information to private investigators by company employees.

Telecom Italia said in a statement it considered itself an injured party, and had told its lawyers "to undertake any action necessary against all those that are in any way responsible for the grave material and immaterial damage done to the group".

Pirelli also said it considered itself an injured party, in a separate statement sent by email, and would initiate proceedings against anyone who had caused it damage.

Both companies said they would constitute themselves as civil parties in the legal proceedings.

Italian daily Corriere della Sera reported on Saturday that prosecutors had interviewed Pirelli Chairman Marco Tronchetti Provera and Telecom Italia's former top executive Carlo Buora -- as witnesses not as suspects -- at the end of June.  Continued...