From: Biniam Haile \(SWE\) (eritrea.lave@comhem.se)
Date: Tue Sep 02 2008 - 16:18:26 EDT
Italy Pays Reparations to Libya
Tuesday, Sep. 02, 2008
By JEFF ISRAELY
One of the perks of one-man rule is picking your national holidays.
Libya's Col. Muammar Gaddafi has invented a few fêtes for his North
African nation since seizing power in a 1969 coup. Three years ago,
during stalled negotiations with Italy over reparations for Rome's
colonial rule in Libya, he added another: Oct. 7 became "Vendetta
Against Italians Day."
Now, in an unprecedented act of contrition by a former European colonial
power, Italy has formally apologized for its past injustices during its
30-year reign in Libya early last century, and agreed to pay $5 billion
in reparations to Tripoli. Gaddafi promptly declared Aug 30 — the day
the deal was inked in — Libyan-Italian Friendship Day.
Perhaps it should be called "Silvio Day." Italian Prime Minister Silvio
Berlusconi and Gaddafi, who share a certain mix of both durability and
unpredictability, signed the deal under one of Gaddafi's trademark
desert tents in the coastal city of Benghazi, trading jokes and each
sharing pictures of their grandchildren.
Berlusconi insists that Libya has inched back into the international
community, and that the hefty dollar figure includes a large portion in
investment projects that will benefit Italian companies, including a
long planned major highway to link Algeria to Tunisia and Egypt. Gaddafi
also announced that Italy will get preferential deals on his country's
oil and gas reserves, and threw in the return of an ancient Venus statue
taken to Rome during colonial times as a sign of goodwill.
Perhaps more crucially for voters at home, Berlusconi received a written
assurance from Gaddafi that his country will do more to stem the tide of
illegal immigrants crossing the Mediterranean from Libyan shores, most
of whom wash up on Italy's shores.
But not everyone was impressed. "Gaddafi is a dictator," wrote Romano
Bracalini in the L'Opinione daily. "He's strengthened politically and
can claim victory. This is not a proud day for the Italian Republic."
The agreement also sets an interesting new precedent. Italy also spent
time in Eritrea, Somalia and Ethiopia, which may now demand similar
compensation.
Former colonies of other European powers may have reason to study
Libya's deal. Algerian newspaper Liberte', for instance, called on
French President Nicolas Sarkozy to "take heed of the Italian example."
The paper L'Expression added that "genocide, torture and crimes against
humanity most definitely existed in Algeria. They were the work of
colonial France and its military contingent, and lasted 132 years." Le
Potential, a daily in Congo, sent a similar message to the Belgium
government that once reigned in that country.
Libya's deal with Italy is part of its ongoing effort to reconcile with
the West. In July, it reached a final compensation deal with the
families of the 270 victims of the 1988 bombing of a U.S. airliner over
Lockerbie, Scotland, which was blamed on Gaddafi's regime. This deal
appears to have led to full normalization of diplomatic relations with
Washington and an expected visit by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
later this week. Condi Day anyone?
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1838014,00.html?xid=rss-wo
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