Diplomatic Briefing
Your exclusive news aggregator handpicked daily!Archive for Italy
Newsline: Italy closes embassy in Syria
Italy says it has closed its embassy in Syria and recalled its staff. The Foreign Ministry announced the moves Wednesday, reaffirming “the strongest condemnation of the unacceptable violence by the Syrian regime against its own citizen.” Italy recalled its ambassador to Syria last month. Britain, Canada, France, Spain and the United States have each announced the closures of their embassies to protest the crackdown.
http://www.cbs6albany.com/template/inews_wire/wires.international/24419f73-www.cbs6albany.com.shtml
Newsline: Italian embassy in India demands to release marines
At a time when the European Union has come forward expressing willingness to intervene in the Enrica Lexie episode, a letter sent to the Union Ministry of External Affairs from the Italian Embassy is gaining significance. Through the letter, Italy urged India to release the marines, arrested by the Kerala police. In a letter sent to the Ministry of External Affairs, the Embassy asked the government to ensure their unimpeded departure from Indian territory. The Embassy pointed out that as per the principles of customary international law recognised by several decisions of International Courts, state organs enjoy jurisdictional immunity for acts committed in the exercise of their official functions. “The Italian Navy Military Detachment that operated in international waters on board of the vessel Enrica Lexie must be considered as an organ of the Italian state,” it said. “The conduct by the marines has been carried out in the fulfillment of their official duties in accordance with national regulations (Italian Act nr.107/2011) and orders, as well as the pertinent rules on piracy contained in the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and in the relevant UN Security Council Resolutions on the Piracy off the Horn of Africa,” the Embassy said. The letter pointed out that investigations by both the Italian ordinary and military judicial authorities had already been initiated against marines. Therefore, Italian Navy personnel who are in judicial custody should be released. The Embassy of Italy recalled that the marines were doing their official duties and should not be open to scrutiny in front of any court other than the Italian ones.
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/release-marines-writes-italian-embassy/238337-60-116.html
Newsline: Italy summons Indian ambassador over marines’ arrest
The Italian Foreign Ministry summoned the Indian ambassador to protest over the jailing in India of two Italian marines suspected of shooting two fishermen they believed to be pirates. The summoning of Ambassador Shri Debabrata Saha further escalated a dispute between the two countries over the incident last month. Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi said the jailing of the men was “unacceptable.” The two marines were assigned to protect the Italian merchant vessel Enrica Lexie, which was sailing off the Indian coast when they opened fire to avert what they thought was a pirate attack. The marines, Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone, handed themselves in to authorities in the southern coastal town of Kochi after the incident and were held in a police-guarded guest house before being transferred to a prison Monday. Italy, which sent an envoy to negotiate their release, insists that India has no jurisdiction over the matter because it occurred in international waters. It argues that, since the marines were aboard an Italian vessel, any investigation or trial should be conducted by Italy according to international law governing the high seas. In New Delhi, the Indian foreign ministry re-stated its position that jurisdiction was theirs. “Our views are very clear on this. The law of the land is taking its course,” said spokesman Syed Akbaruddin. Rome began assigning military teams to protect its merchant vessels in the Indian Ocean last year after a series of attacks by Somali pirates on Italian ships.
http://www.defenceweb.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=24175:italy-summons-indian-ambassador-over-marines-arrest&catid=52:Human%20Security&Itemid=114
Newsline: Controversy in Tanzania over Rome embassy building purchase
Former Tanzanian ambassador to Italy Prof Costa Ricky Mahalu (63) told Kisutu Resident Magistrate’s Court that the Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation was aware of the two contracts used in purchasing an embassy building in Rome. Mahalu, who is the first witness in the corruption case he faces along with his assistant, former consular Grace Martin, revealed this when making his defence before presiding principal resident magistrate Ilvin Mgeta. Prof Mahalu and Martin are charged in a high profile grand corruption case with causing the Tanzanian government a loss of euros 2m during the purchase of the embassy building over ten years ago. He told the court that, he communicated with then Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Jakaya Kikwete [now President of the United Republic of Tanzania] about the process of purchasing the embassy along with two draft contracts. Prof Mahalu added that after the arrangement, Kikwete met with the owner of the building who told him about the two contracts when he visited the building in December 2001. Led by his defense counsel Mabere Marando, Mahalu told the court that, the Minister reminded him to make sure that the money was paid soon before other people bid for the same building and win it. He added that the owner of the building during the discussion with Kikwete insisted to be paid USD one million, as commitment fee and the Minister assured her that the money would be paid before the end of the year. He further said that, Kikwete visited the building when he was attending a SADC meeting in December 2001.
http://www.ippmedia.com/frontend/index.php?l=38952
Newsline: Italian Embassy officials confront Indian airport security
Security officials at the Cochin airport late on Monday prevented three officials of the Italian Embassy who had been on board an Air India flight to Thiruvananthapuram from disembarking at Kochi. According to official sources, the Embassy officials had boarded the flight AI 465 from Delhi to Thiruvananthapuram via Kochi and were bound to de-board at Thiruvananthapuram. However, they insisted on disembarking at Kochi after the aircraft landed here for a brief stop over by 8.45 p.m. And despite repeated warnings from the cabin crew, they managed to get out of the aircraft. However, they were stopped at the ladder point by the airport security personnel and were forcibly taken into the aircraft following negotiations with the airline authorities. “The embassy officials appeared furious but the airline and security personnel were in no mood to yield and they finally returned to the aircraft,” an airport official said. According to him, the booking details of the passengers clearly showed that they had purchased tickets to a destination beyond Kochi. The stand-off that continued for over 25 minutes, also delayed the flight’s onward journey by about half-an-hour and the aircraft departed to Thiruvananthapuram by 9.30 p.m. Though confirmed to be officials of the Italian Embassy, the names and designations of the officials were unavailable.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2913995.ece
Newsline: Italian consul in closure meeting
The State Government is continuing talks with the Italian Government aimed at keeping the Italian Consulate in Adelaide open. Multicultural Affairs Minister Jennifer Rankine had a meeting with the Italian Ambassador Gian Ludovico de Martino di Montegiordano in Canberra as part of moves to stop the closure of the Glynde office. “The Italian community is a vital part of our state’s culture and future,” Ms Rankine said. Ms Rankine said the ambassador reaffirmed the consulate’s future depended on a review of spending on Italian consulates around the world. Twenty Italian consulates across the globe are earmarked for closure, including in Adelaide and Brisbane.
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/italian-consul-in-closure-meeting/story-e6frea83-1226276324983
Newsline: US Embassy confirms $6 trillion in US bonds were fake
Italian officials said more than $6 trillion worth of fake U.S. Treasury bonds were confiscated by police in Switzerland, leading to the arrest of eight Italians. Officers from the Federal Reserve and the US Embassy in Rome confirmed they were fake. The bonds in question were contained in three chests originally intercepted in 2007 as they were being taken to Zurich from Hong Kong. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York has decried such scams, noting that the largest denomination of currency ever issued in 1934 was $100,000 and were used for official transactions between its own district banks and not with the general public. For more than a decade, implausibly huge caches of old U.S. debt have periodically emerged, often with colorful stories such as Philippine tribal leaders claiming to have found them in the wreckage of American World War II bombers. The counterfeit bonds often carry face values that far exceed anything ever printed. The U.S. national debt in 1934 was $27 billion. In the stash impounded Friday, each of the three chests — with the words “Federal Reserve System” and “Chicago” painted on their exteriors — also contained a lead tube containing a copy of the Treaty of Versailles that marked the end of World War I, as well as thousands of blank sheets of paper.
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120219/NEWS/202190355/-1/NEWSMAP
Newsline: Activists arrested at Syrian embassy in Rome
Activists who oppose the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad were arrested after trying to force their way into the Syrian embassy in Rome. 12 demonstrators had tried to force their way in but were stopped at the entrance. Sources said they were members of a Milan-based group of Syrian nationals who oppose Assad’s regime. In recent days, activists have converged on Syrian embassies in Britain, Germany, Egypt, Greece and Kuwait and the United States closed its embassy in Damascus. Several other European countries have called their ambassadors home.
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2012/02/10/Activists-arrested-at-Syrian-embassy/UPI-81791328886216/?spt=hs&or=tn
Newsline: Spain, Italy recall ambassadors from Syria
Spain and Italy on Tuesday recalled their ambassadors to Syria for consultation in light of latest political events in that country. Spain announced that it has recalled ambassador Julio Albi for consultations over state of insecurity and exacerbate violence against civilians in Syria. Also, Spanish minister of foreign affairs Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo will summon Syrian ambassador in Madrid to hand him a condemnation letter to the actions of Syrian regime’s armed forces, added the statement. In the same context, Italian minister of foreign affairs Giulio Terzi said, in an official statement, that his country had recalled its ambassador to Syria for consultation, noting that the Italian embassy in Damascus would still be operating in order to help its citizens residing in Syria and follow the latest updates on current political crisis. Also, the statement noted that the Italian government summoned the Syrian ambassador late evening on Monday to express the strongest condemnation and disappointment of the “unacceptable” violence that the regime was using against civilians.
http://www.kuna.net.kw/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=2220033&Language=en
Newsline: Italian embassy worker robbed
An Italian national working at the Italian Embassy in Makati City, Philippines lost a number of assorted jewelries to thieves who managed to get inside her house. Anna Maria Salvini told police that burglars breached her home through the window of the guest room at the 2nd floor.
http://www.tempo.com.ph/2012/italian-lady-embassy-worker-robbed/
