Italy supports peace for Palestinians, says minister

Manama: Italy is extending full support to the Egyptian initiative to achieve lasting peace in Gaza, but is insisting that Arabs and Israel should assume their responsibilities, an Italian minister has said.

“We are fully with the initiative launched by Egypt to secure peace in Gaza and we should encourage the Egyptians as they play their role. However, we would also like the Arab states to play their role in helping bring and maintain peace in the region. Israel at the same time should also assume its responsibilities in line with the Indianapolis peace talks,'' Stefania Craxi, Italy's state minister for foreign affairs, told Gulf News.

“I believe that we should all now work together to promote humanitarian assistance,'' said the minister whose country was the first European state to deliver aid to the Palestinian victims of the Israeli attacks over 22 days.

Italian foreign minister Franco Frattini on January 20 escorted the first “Italian Package'', with a value of 200,000 euros, for the Palestinian population.

More than 1,300 Palestinians were killed and some 5,300 wounded in Operation Cast Lead, launched by the Israelis on December 27.

Tel Aviv said that 10 Israeli soldiers and three civilians were killed during the onslaught which also destroyed more than 4,000 homes and damaged around 17,000.

“We should ensure there is no repeat of the violence and that peaceful and diplomatic progress is achieved on that front,'' Craxi said.

The minister said that Italy's moves were part of its responsibilities towards the Arab world and its quest to address issues of mutual concern and interest.

“We have just completed the deployment of radars alongside the coast of Yemen to strengthen its coastguard capacity to help combat the piracy in the area,'' she said.

“I reaffirmed to the Yemeni officials about Italy's readiness to support all efforts in the anti-piracy combat.''

The radars will help the local authorities in watching over its 2500-km coastline expanding from Oman to Saudi Arabia and overlooking a major international trading maritime passage.

According to Yemeni officials, around 115 vessels and merchant ships were attacked off Somalia's coast and in the Gulf of Aden in 2008.