Massimiliano Latorre, one of two
Italian marines being held in India in connection with the 2012
shooting deaths of two fishermen, successfully underwent minor
heart surgery Monday as Italy's wrangle with New Delhi
continued.
He was successfully operated on to plug a small hole in his
heart, a condition that is quite common and easily fixed with
non-invasive heart surgery, doctors at Milan's Policlinico di
San Donato hospital said.
Latorre, who was hospitalized Friday, has been in Italy for
medical treatment after suffering a minor transient ischemic
attack (TIA) in India last summer.
A neurologist who treated Latorre after his stroke in New
Delhi told ANSA that he had recommended cardiac tests at the
time.
"In my patient discharge report, I recommended cardiac
testing to verify the possible causes of the cerebral stroke,"
said Dr. Rajeev Ranjan, of New Delhi's Sir Ganga Ram hospital.
In a separate development, Italian Ambassador to India
Daniele Mancini has returned to the Indian capital at the end
of two weeks of consultations in Rome over the stand-off over
the fate of Latorre and his colleague, Salvatore Girone.
India has accused them of killing fishermen Valentine and
Ajesh Binki after allegedly mistaking them for pirates and
opening fire on their fishing trawler while guarding the
privately owned Italian-flagged oil tanker MT Enrica Lexie off
the coast of Kerala on February 15, 2012.
Rome has protested the many delays in the case, which has
caused major diplomatic friction between the two countries. It
successfully fought to ensure New Delhi took the death penalty
off the table and dropped the application of a severe
anti-terrorism law, which it said would have equated Italy with
a terrorist state.
Rome has argued the case is not in India's jurisdiction as
the incident took place outside the country's territorial
waters. It also says the marines should be exempt from
prosecution in India, because they are servicemen who were
working on an anti-piracy mission, and allowed to return home.
However, Italian Premier Matteo Renzi said last week that
India has made statements regarding the case which may indicate
a new opening for resolution.
"India, a friend and ally of Italy, has in recent hours
opened a direct channel of discussion, with statements that
we've appreciated," Renzi told a year-end news conference at
Palazzo Chigi, the prime minister's Rome office.
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