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Pro-Vatican politicians irked by Gadhafi in Rome

By Viv 30/08/2010 18:11:00

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AP – A woman holds a copy of the Koran after a meeting with Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, at the Libyan Academy …

Premier Silvio Berlusconi held talks with Moammar Gadhafi on Monday aimed at promoting the two nations' economic ties, but public attention remained focused on the Libyan leader's efforts to persuade Italians to convert to Islam.

There was no immediate indication if any new energy or other business deals might have been spawned during their half-hour private meeting, which took place ins the tent where Gadhafi is staying on the grounds of the Libyan Embassy.

Wearing brown robes, Gadhafi smiled broadly as he shook hands with Berlusconi, who looked tense by comparison. A plaque was unveiled paying tribute to the "bridge" forged between the two countries two years ago, when a friendship treaty, heavily promoted by Berlusconi, paved the way to stepped up significant business deals.

Under the friendship treaty, Italy agreed to pay Libya $5 billion over 20 years as compensation for its 30-year occupation. A large chunk of that money will come in the form of Italy's building a highway across Libya, from the border with Egypt to the border with Tunisia. Three consortiums of Italian companies will be involved in that ambitious project.

But with no new deals so far announced, Gadhafi's theatrical flair and his aggressive promotion of Islam in a predominantly Catholic country continued to grab the headlines.

Gadhafi arrived in Rome a day earlier and promptly gave a lesson on Islam to a few hundred young Italian women recruited by a modeling agency and paid to attend the lecture. Gadhafi handed out copies of the Quran, urged the women to convert, and participants said three young women converted on the spot.

On Monday, he had another session with many of the same young women, who arrived by the busload. Some were modestly dressed. Others tottered on high heels and wore dresses with plunging necklines. At least two were seen wearing a Muslim-style veil. Another woman showed off a necklace she was given with a photo of Gadhafi dangling from it.

A few women leaving the session told Associated Press Television that Gadhafi lectured them again about religion. Another woman told Sky TG24 TV that the Libyan leader told them that women in his country had more freedom than those in the United States.

Left-leaning opposition lawmakers and pro-Vatican politicians alike criticized Gadhafi and the government's failure to protest his behavior.

Rocco Buttiglione, head of the Union of Christian Democrats, told La Repubblica daily Monday — apparently in jest — that if he were to go to Libya to try to persuade Muslims to convert to Christianity, "you can bet I wouldn't come back in one piece."

The small opposition Italy of Values party protested outside the Libyan Embassy, with Sen. Stefano Pedica telling APTN that Gadhafi was "making fun of our country, from the moment he stepped down from his plane."

This is Gadhafi's fourth visit to the country in just over a year.

Libya has long been an important supplier of oil and natural gas to Italy.

The Italian premier was playing host in the evening to some 800 guests at a dinner in Gadhafi's honor. Invited was a cross-section of Italy's business VIPs, with guests reportedly from Fiat, Eni energy company, Finmeccanica engineering-construction company and Unicredit bank.

Libya's central bank has a 4 percent share in Unicredit, Italy's largest bank, which earlier this month won the first international license to operate in the North African country.

On the program of entertainment was an equestrian ceremony, using 30 Libyan horses flown up from the North African country for the gala at a paramilitary police barracks on the outskirts of Rome.

As part of the friendship treaty, Libya agreed to crack down on the thousands of African migrants who set off from Libyan shores for Italy. Berlusconi's key coalition partner in his conservative coalition is the anti-immigrant Northern League party.

The Italian government's practice of returning those found at sea to Libya without screening them first for asylum has been criticized by human rights groups and Catholic church officials.

"I am absolutely contrary to this sending back of immigrants because it is a violation of personal rights of those who could potentially seek asylum," said a Sicilian bishop, Monsignor Domenico Mogavero. The bishop told The Associated Press he had tried without success to raise his concerns with Gadhafi during a gathering at the embassy.

Amnesty International has also raised concerns about human rights in general, including use of torture, the death penalty and the lashing of women in Libya.