'Road to Mosul difficult but positive'

(fixes typo in slug) (ANSA) - Rome, October 28 - Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni on Friday said conquering Mosul will be positive even if the road to retake the key Iraqi city from the so-called Islamic State (ISIS) terror group is "long and difficult", speaking at a joint press conference in Rome with Brett McGurth, the US State Department special envoy to the anti-ISIS coalition.
    "We should never raise expectations for quick solutions", Gentiloni said of the Iraqi-led operation to retake ISIS's last major stronghold in Iraq and the country's second-largest city.
    "There is no doubt that the coalition has started operations towards Mosul having already reached some agreements between different components" also thanks to McGurth's role, the foreign minister said.
    "The objective is to have an inclusive governance that does not authorize sectarian or vindictive policies but respects the pluralistic context of these areas".
    McGurk said the US-assisted campaign to retake Mosul will be "long" as expected but that so far all the objectives have been obtained.
    A coalition of some 100,000 forces started the operation 10 days ago, gaining ground towards the city and retaking villages from ISIS along the way.