Italian Bishop
Giovanni Martinelli said Monday that he was staying in Libya
after Italy evacuated its citizens from the country overnight
due to the threat posed by Islamist extremists.
Martinelli, the apostolic vicar of Tripoli, also
complained of a lack of dialogue with Islam after ISIS jihadists
called the Italian government "crusaders" following Foreign
Minister Paolo Gentiloni's assertion that Rome was ready to take
part in a UN-mandated military intervention in Libya.
"I have to stay. How can I leave the Christians with no
one?" Martinelli told Vatican radio.
"Oil, Libya's oil wells, and those in the Persian Gulf and
so on, are behind the jihadists".
When asked about the ISIS description of Premier Matteo
Renzi's government as "crusaders", Martinelli commented: "I only
say that a certain type of dialogue with the country, and with
Islam in particular, has been lacking".
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