No 'backstory' on Libya abductions

(ANSA) - Rome, July 21 - 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".