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Rome, Jan. 10, 2017 (dpa/NAN) Italy has reopened its embassy in the Libyan city of Tripoli on Tuesday after a two-year closure, prompting promises of normalising relations.
Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni tweeted saying “Government is committed to stabilising Libya and cooperation against human traffickers’’.
The Italian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that “reopening the Tripoli embassy is a very important sign of friendship toward the people of Libya”.
Italy shut down its embassy in Tripoli two years ago due to Libya’s ongoing civil war.
Other Western countries have also closed their embassies there amid security concerns.
The German and U.S. embassies continue to operate out of Tunis, for example.
Asylum seekers following the so-called Mediterranean route in an effort to reach Italy and the European Union often leave from the coasts of the North African country.
The ministry said that Interior Minister Marco Minniti was in Tripoli on Monday on a mission to renew “a joint commitment against illegal immigration and human trafficking”. (dpa/NAN)
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Edited by Celine-Damilola Oyewole/Abdullahi Yusuf