Gaddafi Goes Camping in Italy; Also Meets Berlusconi
June 10, 2009
ROME - JUNE 10: Libya's leader Muammar Gaddafi attends a meeting with Italian President Giorgio Napolitano at the Quirinale Palace on June 10, 2009 in Rome, Italy. Colonel Gaddafi is in Rome to attend a meeting of G8 Development Ministers. (Photo by Franco Origlia/Getty Images)
Libyan leader Col. Muammar Gaddafi certainly enjoys pomp, circumstances, and Bedouin-style camping. He also enjoys these same activities on official state visits to Italy, where he will meet with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi for three-day talks set to cover illegal immigration between the two countries and future investment proposals.
Libya, once a former colony of Italy, has been helping with Mr. Berlusconi’s official immigration policy of forcibly removing illegal immigrants and sending them back to Libya. Since May, Libya has towed over 500 migrants back to Libyan shores.
Gaddafi, however, despite his friendship with the Italian Prime Minister, wore on his dress uniform a suggestive photo of a Libyan national hero, Omar al-Mukhtar, who was imprisoned and executed by Italian colonial rulers.
Although relations between the two nations have thawed considerably after Italy agreed to make reparations for their harsh colonial policies, Gaddafi’s recent show in Italy has the potential to upset recent diplomatic and economic gains. Perhaps he should have stayed in the villa provided for him by the Italian authorities, instead of bringing along a tent.
-Chris Hildebrand
