Use of base 'not prelude to intervention', Gentiloni says

(ANSA) - Istanbul, February 23 - The decision to allow armed American drones to take off from a NATO-Italian air base at Sigonella in Sicily for operations against the so-called Islamic State (ISIS) fundamentalist militia in Libya and North Africa "is not a prelude to military intervention", Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni said Tuesday.
    "The use of bases does not require a specific communication to parliament, but rather evaluations will be made by the defense minister" on a case by case basis, he added.
    The authorisation granted by the Italian government is "confirmation of the cooperation between Italy and the US on a case by case basis, and it is cooperation aimed at defense operations," Gentiloni said.
    "Moreover I don't believe the authorization is aimed at Libya specifically, but at anti-terror operations in general," he concluded.
    On Monday The Wall Street Journal reported that the Italian government had agreed to let armed US drones use the base in January in operations against ISIS in Libya and across North Africa.
    The deal came after over a year of negotiations, the US financial paper said. The green light reportedly arrived from Rome on the condition that the drones be used only "for purposes of defence, to protect US special forces operations in Libya".