A group of around 60 Italians
returned from Libya overnight after being evacuated because of
security concerns about the advance of the Islamist jihadists in
the North African nation.
The group, including the ambassador to Tripoli, embassy
staff and other Italians working in Libya, is set to land on an
Air Force jet at the Pratica di Mare military base near Rome on
Monday after being taken to the Sicilian port of Augusta by
boat.
On Monday Egypt launched air strikes against jihadists in
Libya purporting to be linked to the Islamic State (ISIS) group
after the released a video showing the beheading there of a
number of Coptic Christian hostages.
In the video, one of the jihadists warned Italy that ISIS
was now "south of Rome" and not longer isolated to its bases in
Syria and Iraq.
Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni has said Italy
would be ready to take part in a United Nations-mandated
military intervention in Libya, the coast of which is just some
800 kilometers from the southern tip of Italy.
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