ABBA NETWORK

Gaddafi at Ciampino airport was given a warm red-carpet welcome by the Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi at the start of the three-day visit on Wednesday to consolidate a friendship treaty signed last year.

Italy and Libya have a “real and deep friendship… based on a common position on international issues and tight cooperation on economic matters,” Berlusconi said at a joint press conference with Gaddafi.

The Libyan leader praised Berlusconi for his “bravery in taking this historic decision to apologise to the Libyan people” for Rome’s 1911-47 military occupation and colonisation of Libya.

He said Libyan “martyrs were attacked by (Italy’s wartime dictator Benito) Mussolini just for defending their territory. Many crimes were committed during this era, with thousands deported.”

The August 2008 treaty was “not a matter of accounts or dollars but of principles,” Kadhafi said, adding, “Let’s hope other colonial states will follow Italy’s example.”

Earlier on Wednesday, after meeting President Giorgio Napolitano, the leader of the oil-rich north African state said, “The page on the past has been turned and a new page of friendship has opened.”

The visit seals a major rapprochement symbolised by the treaty under which Italy will pay USD five billion (EUR 3.5 billion) in compensation for the colonial period over the next 25 years. Ciampino Airport in Rome is a main airport of the country. Gaddafi Ciampino is an important event.