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18:46 14.04.2018(updated
18:53 14.04.2018)Get short URL
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Italy has made it clear
to its Western allies that it will not lend them its military bases to launch
attacks against Syria.
"Missile attacks have been performed
by the US and a number of European countries. We ally with them,
and our ties with the US are special and tight, but at this point
in time we insisted and made it clear that logistic aid on behalf
of Italy does not mean that the strikes could be conducted from the
Italian territory," Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni said.
The head of the
Italian government, who had formally resigned, expressed hope that the strikes
would not trigger further escalations and endorsed the resolution of the
Syrian crisis by means of diplomacy. "It is not the time
to escalate the confrontation, the time has come for diplomacy
to give Syria democracy and pluralism after seven years of the
horrid conflict," Gentiloni pointed out.
Separately, the Italian
premier harshly slammed the use of chemical weapons.
"We must not return to the exploitation
of chemical weaponry in conflicts on Earth, as it is
prohibited under international law and our civilization does not deserve
it. And the task of the whole global community is to prevent this
from being used," Gentiloni noted.
On Saturday, senator
Matteo Salvini, leader of Italy’s Northern league Party and candidate
for the prime minister’s post, condemned strikes by the US, the UK
and France on Syrian military targets.
"They are still
looking for Saddam’s 'chemical weapons,' we are still paying for the
craze of the Libyan war, and someone, having a finger on the trigger
is insisting on 'smart missiles,' thereby aiding primarily Islamic terrorists,
who are nearly defeated. Total madness, stop everyone," the politician
wrote on his Facebook account.
Salvini had earlier
spoken out against the Western countries meddling in the Syrian civil
war.
The United States,
France, and the United Kingdom launched 103 missiles against Syrian
targets overnight on Saturday, April 14, 71 of which were reportedly
intercepted by Syrian air defense systems. The strikes had been conducted
hours before an OPCW team was due to arrive in Douma, a city
northeast of Damascus, tasked with determining whether the alleged
chemical attack had taken place there.
© AP PHOTO / CPL L
MATTHEWS/MOD
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