Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni on
Tuesday urged the media to avoid looking for "backstories" in
the abduction of four Italian oil workers in Libya, adding that
Rome is set to send trainers rather than troops to the
strife-torn North African country.
The kidnappings have underscored the lawlessness of a
militia-ridden country where central government has collapsed,
Islamic State (ISIS) is advancing and migrant smugglers are
operating virtually undisturbed to send waves of desperate
people across the Mediterranean to Italy.
"This is not the time to indulge in backstories but rather
to show the face of a united country like Italy that knows the
terrain and confides in the work of diplomacy and intelligence,"
Gentiloni said at a press conference in Rome with the UN's Libya
envoy, Bernardino Leon.
Trying to form political interpretations of the motive for
the kidnappings "is premature and imprudent," Gentiloni
stressed.
Gino Pollicardo, Fausto Piano, Filippo Calcagno and
Salvatore Failla were abducted on Sunday near an Eni oil and gas
company complex in the city of Mellitah in western Libya as they
returned from Tunisia.
They work for the oilfield construction and maintenance
company Bonatti, based in Parma.
There have been several claims of responsibility for the
kidnapping - including one alleging it was in reaction to
Italy's threat to sink migrant-smuggler boats - but none that
Italian intelligence is giving priority to.
Gentiloni said that "making the path to stabilisation safe
in Libya doesn't mean sending shipments of thousands of
soldiers," but that once a power-sharing agreement is reached,
Italy will contribute with "a sophisticated operation of
training, monitoring and surveillance that will be done in
response to the Libyans' requests".
Leon said "there won't be a strong military mission but
training work for the Libyan forces".
Any Libyan groups that "pull out of or boycott" a July 12
power-sharing deal, which the Tripoli government has not yet
signed, "will be isolated by the international community, as
emerged from yesterday's EU meeting," Gentiloni said.
The government in Tripoli, which includes Islamists, is not
recognised by the international community, unlike the one in
Tobruk.
Leon added: "We have been in contact with Italy since it
happened and my team is working to gather information".
Calling for "the immediate and unconditional release of
the four Italians," the UN envoy said the power-sharing deal
might represent "light at the end of the tunnel".
Meanwhile back at the HQ of the Bonatti oil infrastructure
company at Parma a spokesman said the firm had chosen to remain
silent "to best protect our employees".
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
