Gaddafi leaves polemics behind
Berlusconi urged not to keep giving Libyan leader 'a stage'
31 August, 13:09
(ANSA) - Rome, August 31 - Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi
left Rome Tuesday after a trip where he spurred polemics by
preaching Islam to hired hostesses and demanding billions of
euros to keep Europe from "turning black".The colonel's plane left Ciampino Airport at about 13:00 local (11:00 GMT) after a three-day visit marking the second anniversary of a friendship treaty giving Libya $5 billion in colonial reparations and letting Italy turn back migrant boats.
Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi on Monday night called Geddafi "a great friend" and played down the fuss over his guest's behaviour, calling it "folkloric".
Feminist and Catholic groups were outraged by Gaddafi's two public lectures to 500 and 200 hostesses while the opposition accused Berlusconi of pandering to the Libyan leader because of Italy's huge business interests in the north African country.
On Tuesday even the premier's People of Freedom (PdL) party urged Berlusconi to stop providing "a stage" for Gaddafi. "It is of course essential for us to develop our privileged diplomatic relations with Libya, but how come such scenes and appeals are never seen in Germany or the rest of Europe?", said Deputy House Speaker Maurizio Lupi and PdL European Parliament whip Mario Mauro.
"What happened could never occur in Muslim countries," Lupi and Mauro added in a letter La Stampa.
Youth Minister Giorgia Meloni said she had been "somewhat bothered" by Gaddafi's appeal to the young women to help turn Europe Islamic.
Veneto Governor Luca Zaia, a top member of the Northern League, said "Gaddafi should have been received as an ordinary citizen" and "he should go and give his 'Islamisation' lessons elsewhere".
The League, a defender of Italy's Christian heritage, has been accused of turning a blind eye to Gaddafi's religious pitches because it backs the controversial immigrant policy that he makes possible.
The UN and human rights organisations have criticised the 'push-back' migrant boat policy and raised concerns over the conditions of asylum seekers in Tripoli.
The head of Italy's Observatory for the Rights of Minors, Antonio Marziale, urged the government to "ask about the children, some of them extremely young, kept in Libyan migrant camps after they have been repelled from Italian shores, ask about the state they're in".
(In Brussels, a European Commission spokesman said the EC had no comment to make on Gaddafi's request for five billion euros a year to keep immigration from sub-Saharan Africa out of Europe). The Vatican was also critical of Gaddafi's visit, with the head of the missionary department, Cardinal Robert Sarah, speaking of "provocation that was disrespectful of the pope and Italy which is an overwhelmingly Catholic country".
Italian bishops' daily Avvenire said the visit had been a "boomerang" featuring "disgraceful stunts".
During Gaddafi's visit, deals were firmed up with several major Italian companies including Finmeccanica whose Selex unit will provide satellite systems to better control Libya's southern borders.
Berlusconi also hailed progress on a 1,700km coastal highway that Italy is building as part of the 2008 friendship deal.
