Italian Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi said Tuesday he was resigning from his post in protest over the return of two Italian marines to India to face murder charges. "I resign in contention with the decision to send the marines back to India. The misgivings I expressed had no effect on the decision taken," he told parliament. "I am resigning because for 40 years I have maintained, and still maintain, that the reputation of the country, the armed forces and Italian diplomacy, should be safeguarded," he said. The Italian government sent Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone, accused of shooting dead two fishermen off the coast of the southwestern Indian state of Kerala, back to New Delhi on Friday, having previously opposed the trial in India. Source AFP … [Read more...] about Italy foreign minister resigns over return of marines to India
Italian foreign minister
Italian foreign minister to visit Vietnam
Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema will visit Vietnam October 8-9, seeking to foster a mutually beneficial partnership between the two countries. A group of Italian businesses executives will accompany him to explore opportunities here. Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema … [Read more...] about Italian foreign minister to visit Vietnam
Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dzung welcomes Italy’s Deputy Foreign Minister
On November. 13, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dzung welcomed Italian Deputy Foreign Minister Margherita Boniver in Ha Noi, saying that the visit would help boost developmental cooperation between the two countries. He reiterated Vietnam's consistent policy of maintaining friendly relations with all countries for peace, stability, development and mutual benefit. He noted that economic, cultural and educational ties between Vietnam and Italy have developed well over recent years, adding that he hoped bilateral cooperation would expand to other areas. The Deputy Prime Minister stressed that the Vietnamese Government is always open to the exchange of ideas with Italy. He expressed the wish that the two countries respect each other's views to promote mutual understanding as well as mutually beneficial cooperation. Deputy Foreign Minister Boniver said her visit, which started on November. 8, had achieved positive results, and thanked the Vietnamese Government for facilitating her visits … [Read more...] about Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dzung welcomes Italy’s Deputy Foreign Minister
Italian prime minister resigns
On February 21, Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi offered his resignation to President Giorgio Napolitano after losing a major foreign policy vote in the upper house of Parliament by only two votes. According to CNN, the president reserved the right to decide whether to accept the resignation. Mr Prodi's government remains in charge as caretaker. Consultations on a call for new elections or a mandate for a new prime minister between Mr Napolitano and Italian political leaders started on February 22. The Italian centre-left prime minister could be asked to verify whether his nine-month-old government holds a parliamentary majority by calling a confidence vote. Mr Prodi's coalition allies, including leftists, protested keeping Italian troops in Afghanistan and allowing the expansion of a US military base in Vicenza, Italy. The kernel of the prime minister's problems is the government's support in the US-led war in Iraq, although he vowed to withdraw nearly 3,000 troops from Iraq by … [Read more...] about Italian prime minister resigns
Libya rebels plead for foreign forces or ‘we will die’
A rebel official in Libya's besieged city of Misrata pleaded desperately on Tuesday for Britain and France to send troops to help fight strongman Moamer Kadhafi's forces, saying "if they don't, we will die." In the first request by any insurgents for boots on the ground, a senior member of Misrata's governing council, Nuri Abdullah Abdullati, said they were asking for the troops on the basis of "humanitarian" principles. Previously, he told reporters, "we did not accept any foreign soldiers in our country, but now, as we face these crimes of Kadhafi, we are asking on the basis of humanitarian and Islamic principles for someone to come and stop the killing." "Before we were asking for no foreign interference, but that was before Kadhafi used Grad rockets and planes. Now it's a life or death situation." His plea came as Kadhafi and rebel forces engaged in fierce fighting in southeast Misrata. The din subsided only briefly when NATO planes were heard overhead, but picked up … [Read more...] about Libya rebels plead for foreign forces or ‘we will die’