Libya / Italian diplomacy is working at full throttle
ROME, Italy, February 28, 2011/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Italian diplomacy is working at full throttle
“Italian diplomacy is working flat out”, explains Foreign Ministry spokesman Maurizio Massari. Faced with the rapidly changing events on the ground in Libya, Minister Frattini has set up a series of contacts and meetings in recent hours and over the next few days with our main European and Atlantic partners. Yesterday, 24 February, the Minister had phone contacts with the British foreign minister, Hague, and met his Canadian counterpart, Cannon. Today he had a bilateral meeting in Berlin with the German foreign minister, Westerwelle. Secretary of State Burns had a meeting at the Ministry this morning with the Secretary General, Ambassador Massolo. Italy condemned without hesitation the violent repression of the demonstrations in Libya, and stands ready to offer its support to the package being drawn up by the EU for targeted personal and asset-related sanctions.
As Minister Frattini explained at the end of his meeting with Westerwelle, Rome and Berlin will jointly submit a proposal to the UN Human Rights Council on 28 February 2011 for a UN mission to be sent immediately. Its role would be to assess the situation on the ground and open an independent enquiry into the violence perpetrated. On Monday, Minister Frattini will be travelling to Geneva to take part in the Human rights Council. He will be meeting his principal European colleagues and the American secretary of state, Clinton, in the margins to assess the situation.
Completing the repatriation of the Italians still in Libya remains the Foreign Ministry’s immediate priority. To ensure their safety, we have acted in coordination with the Ministry of Defence to organise the dispatch of C130 aircraft to bring out any Italians still present in Libya. Naval operations are also continuing for the approximately 150 Italians in Misurata to board the ship anchored just off the coast. Over 1100 Italian nationals have left Libya in the last few days, with the few dozen still remaining expected to return to Italy in the next 48 hours. The Foreign Ministry and the Italian Embassy in Tripoli are working24 hours a day to help our fellow citizens.
We are also in contact with the numerous Italian journalists in Libya. We have advised them to take every possible precaution and to maintain contact with the Embassy in Tripoli, the Crisis Unit and the Press Service. Acting on Minister Frattini’s instructions, the Italian Ambassador to Tripoli, Vincenzo Schioppa, yesterday made a high-level démarche to the Libyan authorities to guarantee the safety and freedom of movement of Italian journalists in Libya.
SOURCE
Italy – Ministry of Foreign Affairs
