(Picture: Italy’s Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte (L) and his Deputy and Minister of Interior Matteo Salvini (R). Source: ANSA, filed pic).
by Alessandro Pagano Dritto (Twitter: @paganodritto)
[August 2nd, 2019 – Italy] Marshal Khalifa Hafter and the Libyan National Army (LNA) have received two different definitions in less than a week from two members of the Italian government.
On July 30th, Italy’s Minister of Interior and Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini defined the LNA as “rebel troops” which carry out “unacceptable attacks […] against civilian targets”, ANSA news agency reported by quoting him about a phone call of “support and collaboration” to his counterpart at the Tripoli-based Government of National Agreement (GNA) Fathi Bashagha.
On his part, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte defined Marshal Khalifa Hafter “and Cyrenaica” (p. 12) as “interlocutors” (p. 12) to Rome, “basing on facts” (p. 12), while briefing the Parliament’s House of Deputies on July 24th; yet, he stressed LNA’s current operation has “escalated” (p. 12) that very terrorism it was willing to stop.
In that occasion Italy’s Prime Minister also confirmed Rome’s official support to the GNA “with no ambiguity” (p. 12).
July 30th’s one is at least the second statement Deputy Prime Minister Salvini releases in a month in explicit support to the Libyan Capital, suggesting he may come out as the hard-liner against the LNA in the Italian government: on July 3rd, 2019, he had expressed a similar, explicit, support both by telling news agency AGI Tripoli is “the only legitimate government” and by calling for a “shared condemnation as well as a common and united diplomatic intervention in support” of it in the current conflict.
Between Libya And Italy 
