Libya-Italy Ties: A Perspective

- By Dr. Abdul Ruff Colachal

 I

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, known as Africa’s King of kings, arrived on 10 June in Rome on his first visit to Italy, Libya’s former colonial ruler and now its biggest trading partner. Col Gaddafi - dressed in full military regalia and heading a 200-member entourage - was given a red-carpet welcome by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi at Rome’s Ciampino airport. Col Gaddafi met his visitors in his Bedouin-style tent which was set up in the park of a 17th Century Roman villa where he was staying.

This is the Libyan leader's first visit to Italy since he took power in a coup in 1969, following Italy’s 30-year occupation of Libya. Italy occupied Libya for 30 years in the early part of the 20th Century and until recently relations have been difficult. But in recent years the relationship has flourished and even turned to friendship. Business deals have surged and expelled settlers are now allowed to visit. Upon arrival, Ghaddafi met with the Italian head of state Giorgio Napolitano and Prime Minister Berlusconi. Col Gaddafi traveled to Rome with Omar al-Mukhtar's elderly son, Mohammed Omar al-Mukhtar, who had to be helped off the plane by security guards.

Despite improved relations between the two states, Col Gaddafi landed wearing a photo of a Libyan who was executed by Italian colonial authorities. Accompanied by a delegation of Libyan businessmen looking to boost their investments in Italian industry Libyan leader concluded some agreements. Berlusconi, remembering the "suffering of the Libyan people," said the strategic partnership is the product of many years of hard work done by his predecessors.  "A painful chapter of history is finally over," Berlusconi said. “Italy has defeated Fascism and deserves it more than many other countries."  Ghaddafi added as well that he will present to the UN refugee agency a strategic document for the fight against sea piracy in Somalia.

The 3-day official visit, from 10-12, is the return courtesy trip by Gaddafi after an Italy prime ministerial trip to Libya last year June 27 by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi for talks with Col Muammar Gaddafi and set to boost Libya-Italy bilateral relations and pave way for closer cooperation with the European Union (EU) on economic and immigration issues. On 30 August 2008 Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has signed an agreement to pay Libya $5bn (£3bn) as part of a deal to resolve colonial-era disputes as reparations.  This is the first African country to be compensated by a former colonial master. Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi said the settlement signed in the city of Benghazi opened the door to partnership between the two states. The two leaders discussed how to stop illegal immigrants using Libya as a launching point for Italian shores. Berlusconi said he would ask for the creation of Libyan holding centers for illegal immigrants and increased vigilance of Libya’s coast. Gaddafi held a similar meeting on a visit to Paris in 2007 with 1,000 selected women guests, who were told he wanted to "save European women." 

Colonel Gaddafi 64, will, as usual, be staying in the tent he takes on foreign trips, and will meet Italy’s president and prime minister. Berlusconi and Ghaddafi signed important bilateral agreements to boost economic, scientific and technical cooperation in sea resources, develop student exchange programs and implement special fiscal measures for companies' investments. Berlusconi explained that $200m would be paid annually over the next 25 years through investments in infrastructure projects, the main one being a coastal motorway between the Egyptian and Tunisian borders. There will also be a colonial-era mine clearing project. As a goodwill gesture, Italy also returned an ancient statue of Venus, the headless "Venus of Cyrene", which had been taken to Rome in colonial times.

Talks were held on investment between the two countries and the issue of illegal immigration. The Italian government allocated funds for joint patrolling of Libyan sea borders on boats provided by Italy and for technological device controls of the Southern Libyan frontier. In addition, all Libyan land borders are to be monitored by a satellite detection system jointly financed by Italy and the European Union. The Italian government has made the fight against illegal immigration one of its top priorities and has introduced some controversial measures such as the deportation of migrants intercepted in international waters. The treaty between Italy and Libya, however, left open the thorny question of the 20,000 Italian people expelled from Libya in 1970 and demanding compensation.

Italy has been swamped by thousands of African migrants trying to reach its shores by boat. Recently a boat thought to be from Libya reached the Sicilian island of Lampedusa with 275 illegal migrants. Every year thousands of immigrants from the African continent head towards Libya, from where they attempt to sail across the Mediterranean for Europe. There are possibly around a million people at the moment trying to make that journey. Berlusconi was meeting Gaddafi in the northern province of Surt, to discuss one solution, an accord signed in December. The agreement would allow Italian naval vessels to patrol the Libyan coast with Libyan sailors aboard - but it is yet to be implemented.

II

International sanctions on Libya were lifted in 2003. Libya has come in from the diplomatic cold since 2003 when it abandoned efforts to acquire weapons of mass destruction. Berlusconi's one-day trip to Libya was his second since June when illegal immigration from Africa to Europe was the key issue of talks. The agreement was signed in the Benghazi palace which once housed the Italian colonial administration. Rome and Tripoli have spent years arguing over compensation for the colonial period.

Known for outspokenness, Col Gaddafi has prompted a number of controversies on his first visit to Italy, Libya's former colonial ruler. Col Gaddafi has made a habit of failing to appear on time for his appointments while on his Italian visit. The Italian lower house has cancelled a high-level conference on 12 June with Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi after he failed to turn up after a two-hour wait. An earlier address to a group of 700 Italian women - for which he was also late - drew both applause and jeers. At a debate in Rome University, the colonel was heckled by students who were protesting against his human-rights record and a deal with Italy to forcibly return African migrants. He was half an hour behind schedule for his meeting with the Italian head of state, President Giorgio Napolitano.

Gaddafi, addressing Italians in a historic Rome square, embarrassed his hosts on Thursday by saying he would abolish political parties and give Italians direct power if it were up to him. His angry host, right-wing Rome mayor Gianni Alemanno -- who had praised the Libyan leader an hour earlier -- told reporters Gaddafi's discourse on political parties was "unacceptable" and that "we don't accept lessons on democracy from anyone." Gaddafi also praised Italy for condemning fascism after the colonial period. Alemanno, standing beside him, was once the youth leader of a neo-fascist party and sparked controversy last year by refusing to label fascism as evil. Gaddafi said Iraq was a fortress against terrorism, with Saddam Hussein al Qaeda could not get in, but now thanks to the United States it is an open arena and this benefits al Qaeda.

Some “democratic’ senators from the opposition centre-left managed to get Gaddafi blocked from speaking in the main chamber, forcing the speech to take place in a nearby annexe. Gaddafi also complained that the world had not rewarded Libya for giving up its ambition of owning weapons of mass destruction. "We cannot accept living in the shadow of intercontinental missiles and nuclear weapons, which is why we decided to change route," he told the senators.

Col Gaddafi entered the gathering at Rome's concert hall to loud applause, and was introduced by Italy's Equal Opportunities Minister Mara Carfagna, a former beauty queen. Gaddafi spoke about the condition of women in Europe and Africa with some of his trademark female bodyguards standing by. The European woman is emancipated, Gaddafi added, "but this wasn't because of her free choice or development but because she was forced by necessity". Col Gaddafi held a similar meeting on a visit to Paris in 2007, when he told guests he wanted to "save European women". There was a throng of women around the Libyan leader as he left, with several trying to get his autograph or take his picture.

Ghaddafi said he will push the UN General Assembly to assign a permanent seat to Italy. There were other issues up for discussion - notably oil. Italy, the former colonial power, is Libya’s biggest trading partner and 25% of oil imports come from their north African neighbor. The Italian prime minister also expressed his concerns at the rising price of crude oil. It jumped again in response to threats from Libya’s most senior oil official that his country might cut production if it continues to be pressured by the US. "This event symbolizes a great change in the relations between Italy and Libya after many difficult years,” Berlusconi said as he welcomed him. On June 11 Ghaddafi gave a speech at the Italian Senate and at La Sapienza state university. Gaddafi addressed a group of 700 Italian women from the fields of business, politics and culture.

Demonstrations are planned by left-wing students who are against Berlusconi’s policy - with Libyan help - of intercepting and forcibly repatriating immigrants who try to reach Italy by sea. Human Rights Watch said the policy, part of an Italy-Libya Friendship Treaty had seen about 500 migrants towed to Libya without any screening since 6 May.   The students tried to stop him giving a lecture at a Rome university, hurling paint and scuffling with police. He told the students terrorism was "the residue of colonialism"." Gaddafi said terrorism is to be condemned and most victims (of terrorism) are innocent and unarmed. But the world community had to look at the root causes of terrorism, such as injustice. Ghaddafi also compared the U.S. air strike on Tripoli in 1986, in which one of his daughters was killed, to an al Qaeda attack. "If bin Laden has no state and is an outlaw, America is a state with international rules." Arguing that the world should have room for "regimes of all kinds" including "revolutionary" Libya, he asked: "What's wrong with North Korea wanting to be communist? Is not the Vatican a respectable theocratic state with embassies all over the world?"

  III   

Libya is Italy's second oil-import country. Oil-rich Libya, formerly isolated by its bellicose behavior, has been steadily reaching out to the rest of the world and trying to repairs its image as a pariah state. The Treaty on Friendship, Partnership and Cooperation launched a strategic partnership between Libya and Italy in economy, culture, science, industry, energy, defense, non-proliferation and disarmament, and in the fight against terrorism and illegal immigration. It entered into force on March 2 with Berlusconi's visit to Sirte and his formal apologies for colonialism. According to the treaty, Italy committed to building basic infrastructure for a total of 5 billion U.S. dollars. The annual expenditure will amount to 250 million dollars over 20 years and the work will be carried out by major Italian companies operating in the field of hydrocarbon research, development and constructions. Thus, no funds will be transferred to Libya but managed directly from Italy. Many Italian firms operate in Libya and Libyan investment in Italy is rising. The Libyan Central Bank and the sovereign Libyan Investment Authority (LIA) have a stake in Unicredit Bank and could soon acquire parts of Italy's largest utility ENI and telephone operator Telecom Italia.

The north African nation, once a pariah accused of sponsoring terrorism, has seen a thaw in its relations with the West since Gaddafi promised to give up the quest for weapons of mass destruction. Italy, which last year apologized for Italian atrocities during its 1911-1943 colonial rule, is at the forefront of the diplomatic thaw and now gets a quarter of its oil from Libya, and more recently Libyan capital injections into Italian firms. But Gaddafi retains a defiant tone, arriving on Wednesday in Rome with a picture pinned to his uniform of Omar al-Mukhtar, a resistance hero hanged by Italian occupiers in 1931. Italian television screened "Lion of the Desert", a 1981 film about al-Mukhtar which was banned in Italy until now.

More than three decades ago, Col Gaddafi led a military coup that toppled King Idris and ended the monarchy in Libya. When Ghaddafi came to power in 1970, he threw the Italians out of the country, confiscating their properties. Ever since then Libya has claimed material compensation for colonialism and formal apologies from the Italy.  But since then, he has ruled his country in the style of the most eccentric of absolute monarchs imaginable.  Libya was occupied by Italy in 1911 before becoming a colony in the 1930s. The former Ottoman territory became an independent country in 1951. Since independence the Italian language has been effectively banned in Libya, while Italian settlers were expelled soon after Col Gaddafi took power and barred from ever returning. Italy’s brutal occupation of Libya, when tens of thousands of Libyans were forcibly moved to concentration camps, was not easily forgotten.. But in the past few years the relationship has flourished and even turned to friendship. However he had attached to the lapel of his military uniform a picture of national hero Omar al-Mukhtar - who was executed by Italian colonial authorities - chained by his captors.

Alleged Libyan involvement in terror attacks in Europe in 1986 led to US military strikes against Tripoli. All the while, the Libyan leader was preaching the need for Arab unity. After the death of President Nasser in 1970, he had assumed it was his natural role to step into the shoes of the former undisputed leader of the Arabs. From the perspective of other Arab leaders, Col Gaddafi has always been too quixotic and unpredictable to be taken seriously. As a result, they were not prepared to translate the sympathy they felt for Libya, as sanctions were imposed after the Lockerbie bombing, into action to help Col Gaddafi.

Grown up in an atmosphere of rebellion, the young Gaddafi was strongly influenced in his formative years by the pan-Arab nationalism espoused by the charismatic Egyptian leader, President Gemal Abdel-Nasser. During the Suez crisis of 1956, Gaddafi, aged 14, took part in anti-Israeli demonstrations. After further army training in Britain, on 1 September 1969, Col Gaddafi personally led an attack on the Benghazi radio station.  His main thrust is to remove all traces of imported ideologies like capitalism and communism, and all signs of foreign influence, before building a new society based on the basic principles of Islam and home-grown socialism. As part of this process, corrupt officials were punished, but despite the cosmetic changes, ultimate power to push through revolutionary changes rested in the hands of Col Gaddafi alone.

Col Gaddafi's Libya is unlike any other country in North Africa, the Middle East or the world at large. It has the stamp of its leader imprinted on every aspect of its life - even its name. But in 1977, Col Gaddafi coined a new word in Arabic to describe his new Libya, governed - in theory at least - by popular committees. It was, he decreed, a "jamahariyya" - a state of the masses. Thought he ties began in the right earnest, Italy-Libya relations, however,  reached an all time low in 1986, when Libya launched a missile which fell into Sicilian waters in reprisal for the U.S. bombing of Tripoli and Benghazi.

Italy and France have been accused of reneging on promises to increase aid to African nations. Anti-poverty groupOne said Italy had actually cut aid to Africa despite making ambitious pledges at a 2005 economic summit. Overall aid to Africa has increased over the last four years - and as a result 34 million children are in school and three million people now receive treatment for Aids. Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi called for decisive action from wealthy countries to help bring Africa out of its misery. In February EU Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner visited Tripoli as a move to further normalization talks. The Libyan leader's trip to Rome will pave way for greater Libya-EU relations, especially in the fight against illegal immigration. The EU Commission has allocated 20 million euros for sea-border patrolling and strategic infrastructure building. The funds, however, have not yet been transferred to Libya.

Gaddafi is proud of meek Africans occupying important positions around and he praised US leader Rice when she visited Libya last year. The next president of the UN General Assembly will be a Libyan politician Ali Abdessalam Treki, marking another step for the once-isolated country as it seeks an increasingly larger role in world affairs. The one-year post rotates among nations on a regional basis and Treki replaces Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann, a Roman Catholic priest and former Nicaraguan foreign minister during the Sandinista rule of the 1980s, whose tenure has been marked by outspokenness and controversy stemming from his openly leftist views.. Libya's minister for AU affairs Treki, who has been in charge of his nation's relationship with the Africa Union, won election last week by acclamation rather than a vote in the General Assembly, the world's forum for debate among 192 member nations. He will assume the new job when the assembly convenes in mid-September for its annual high-level ministerial debate. Treki's new role as UN president requires him to make the goals of the international community his first priority. More importantly his tenure would bring Libya closer to EU.

Col Gaddafi won some respect for having the courage to speak his mind without fear. He has generally struck a common chord, for example, in denouncing the deals that a number of Arab leaders have struck with Israel as a shameful sell-out. Libya admitted responsibility for the Lockerbie and French airliner bombings. More surprising still was the decision in December 2003 to abandon his country's weapons of mass destruction program - a pragmatic move that almost certainly saved his political life and allowed Libyans to engage with the world again.

Even though Libya enjoys a vast oil income, Col Gaddafi himself purports to enjoy a simple lifestyle. Col Gaddafi greets foreign visitors in a traditional Bedouin tent, and likes to spend long periods in the desert. This, he says, is because of his affinity with the desert region where he was born in 1942 to a Bedouin family. Last year, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made first high-ranking American visit to Libya since 1953 and was received by Col Gaddafi at a tent in Tripoli. On 29 August 2008, a meeting of more than 200 African kings and traditional rulers has bestowed the title "king of kings" on Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. The rulers, wearing gold crowns, sequined capes and colorful robes met in the Libyan town of Benghazi in what was billed as a first of its kind.

An Observation

Major changes have happened in Libya over recent years influencing its foreign policy. Col Gaddafi, who called the UN as a terrorist organization not long ago and slammed USA and Europe for their superiority complexes in bilateral and multilateral relations and unilateralism in international arena, is seen making a measured gesture to reach out to the West initiated recently first through the USA. The decision of the US to restore full diplomatic relations with Libya marks the crowning success of his efforts to have his country accepted back into the international community. However, he has not completely opted out of condemning the western colonialist and imperialistic missions around the world. With the wisdom of years perhaps, the Libyan leader has tried hard to turn a new page and clean up the image of his country as a haven for revolutionaries.

Ghaddafi's visit to Rome is the product of 40 years of hard-spun diplomatic negotiations. It follows the signature in August 2008 of the Treaty on Friendship, Partnership and Cooperation between Italy and Libya which officially put an end to the long-lasting colonial dispute by granting material compensation to Libya and launching a strategic economic and anti-immigration partnership. Business deals have surged and expelled settlers are now allowed to visit. And last year Rome agreed to pay Libya $5bn (£3bn) in reparations for the misdeeds of colonial times.  Berlusconi said the deal, which sees the money being released over 25 years, ended "40 years of misunderstanding".

Change in mind in Washington has its quick impact in the European continent as well as elsewhere. The compromise reached between Italy and Libya could be a renewed focus on Libya’s southern borders, where the migrants cross the Sahara desert without too many problems. Italy is offering to fund a radar or satellite system which would help the Libyan authorities respond. Although the two countries have had a love-hate relationship, both have made efforts to leave behind past and go ahead with the present to reach the future.  Since independence the Italian language has been effectively banned in Libya, while Italian settlers were expelled soon after Col Gaddafi took power and barred from ever returning. The settlement was a "complete and moral acknowledgement of the damage inflicted on Libya by Italy during the colonial era. Col Gaddafi said Italy apologizes for its killing, destruction and repression against Libyans during the colonial rule. With the Treaty on Friendship and Cooperation in 2008 Italy has contributed in opening the door to new relations between Libya and the European Union. Negotiations for strategic cooperation on economy, safety, energy and illegal immigration between Libya and the EU are moving slowly. Berlusconi said Libya agreed to supply more oil to Italy and the head of Libya's sovereign wealth fund said he was eyeing investments in Italian electricity and infrastructure companies and joint ventures with Italy in Libya. Col Gaddafi, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the African Union, will return to Rome next month as a delegate to the Group of Eight (G8) summit.

The country has continued to re-emerge on the world scene with its current non-permanent seat on the 15-nation UN Security Council, where the real power at the UN is concentrated. Libya’s effort to reach out to the western hemisphere is a turning point in its strained recent history. Col Gaddafi urged the African royals to join his campaign for African unity. Africa’s political leaders are lukewarm about his vision of merging their powers to create a single government.  The question is will this latest positve move in bilateral ties betweeen former foes set precedents for other former African colonies also to follow suit and, if so, will that benefit the Africans?  

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Dr. Abdul Ruff Colachal

Independent Researcher in World Affairs, The only Indian to have gone through entire India, a fraud and terror nation,
South Asia.