No dangerous Libya adventures

(ANSA) - Rome, March 9 - Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni told the Senate in a briefing on Wednesday that "no ransom was paid" for four Italian hostages kidnapped in Libya last summer. Two of the four were killed last week while the others managed to free themselves and are back in Italy.
    Gentiloni said there was no evidence that Islamist terror group ISIS was involved in the abduction. "The most probable hypothesis is that a pro-Islamist criminal group operating between Mellitah, Zuwara e Sabratha (was behind the kidnapping)," he said.
    The minister also played down reports Italy was gearing up to take part in an international mission to combat ISIS in chaos-hit Libya. He pledged instead that Italy would only be involved in a military mission upon request by "a legitimate government" in the North African country, pending Italian parliament approval.
    The Italian government would not "let itself get dragged into pointless adventures that threaten national security," he said.
    Rather, Italy is working with its allies to help the Tobruk parliament back a Libyan national unity government.
    "In the next few days in a meeting with the...United States, Germany, Britain, France and the EU we'll see if there is an agreement...to enable the majority (of the Tobruk parliament) to express itself" towards the legitimization of a national unity government despite threats and boycotts from extremists, Gentiloni said.
    In related news, Sidikj Al-Sour, the director of the investigations office of the Tripoli prosecution department, told ANSA that the bodies of the two dead hostages will be returned to Italy on Wednesday, after autopsies to recover any bullets.
    "Extracting the bullet is important because it has characteristics that will determine what kind of weapon caused the death," he said.
    Also on Wednesday, Failla's widow said she had been contacted by the her husband's captors. "One of the kidnappers called and spoke to me in Italian," Rosalba Failla said. Daughter Erica, 23, said "my father was a good person. They didn't help us bring him home. They told us to keep quiet, not to make a fuss, not to answer the kidnappers' questions... We did what we were told, and it was no use".