US embassy cable - 97ROME9630

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ROME 009630 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS:  PREL, XI, XF, LY, IT 
SUBJECT: LIBYA: QADHAFI HOPES IN ITALY'S LEFTISTS 
 
REF:  ROME 9519 
 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
1.  THE ITALIAN PRESS CONTINUES TO REPORT ON 
LIBYA, CITING QADHAFI AS SAYING OCTOBER 29 HE 
BELIEVES ITALY'S LEFTIST GOVERNMENT SHOULD HAVE 
NO PROBLEM WITH APPROVING INDEMNITY PAYMENTS TO 
LIBYA AS COMPENSATION FOR ITALIAN COLONIAL 
DAMAGES.  THREE PROMINENT FIGURES, FORMERLY 
MEMBERS OF THE THEN-ITALIAN COMMUNIST PARTY (PCI) 
RESPONDED PUBLICLY AND POSITIVELY TO QADHAFI'S 
REQUESTS:  ACHILLE OCCHETTO, PRESIDENT OF THE 
ITALIAN CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES' FOREIGN AFFAIRS 
COMMITTEE, FORMER PCI LEADER, AND CURRENTLY A 
MEMBER OF THE LEADING GOVERNING PARTY, THE 
DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF THE LEFT (PDS);  RINO SERRI, 
MFA UNDER SECRETARY, FORMERLY OF THE PCI AND NOW 
A MEMBER OF THE GOVERNING COALITION'S UNITARIAN 
COMMUNIST PARTY;  AND VALENTINO PARLATO, EDITOR 
OF THE LEFTIST DAILY "IL MANIFESTO."  HOWEVER, 
SENATOR JAS GAWRONSKI OF THE CENTER-RIGHT'S FORZA 
ITALIA SAID LIBYA CAN NORMALIZE ITS RELATIONS 
WITH THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY "ONLY IF IT 
COMPLIES WITH INTERNATIONAL LAW AND COOPERATES 
POSITIVELY IN FINDING A SOLUTION ON LOCKERBIE." 
A DELEGATION OF RELATIVES OF LIBYANS DEPORTED 
DURING ITALY'S OCCUPATION VISITED ITALY AT THE 
END OF OCTOBER AND SUBMITTED A LIST OF REQUESTS 
TO THE GOI.  UNIDENTIFIED ITALIAN MFA SOURCES 
TOLD THE PRESS THAT THE SIGNING OF AN 
ITALIAN-LIBYAN AGREEMENT "IS GETTING CLOSER." 
END SUMMARY. 
 
 
QADHAFI CALLS ON THE ITALIAN LEFT 
--------------------------------- 
 
2.  FOLLOWING LIBYA'S "NATIONAL DAY OF MOURNING" 
IN COMMEMORATION OF THE MORE THAN THREE THOUSAND 
LIBYANS QADHAFI CLAIMS WERE DEPORTED TO ITALY ON 
OCTOBER 26, 1911, THE ITALIAN NEWS SERVICE ANSA 
REPORTED THAT QADHAFI OCTOBER 29 SAID HE HOPED 
THE NEW ITALIAN GOVERNMENT WOULD SETTLE THE 
CONTROVERSY OVER COMPENSATION FOR DAMAGES 
PROVOKED BY ITALY DURING ITALY'S OCCUPATION OF 
LIBYA (1911-1943).  SPECIFICALLY, QADHAFI SAID, 
"INDEMNITY PAYMENTS SHOULD NOT BE A PROBLEM TO 
THE COMMUNISTS AND THE LEFT NOW IN GOVERNMENT IN 
ITALY.  IT IS TIME TO TURN OVER A DARK PAGE, 
START COOPERATING, AND FORGET THE UGLY PAST.  IF 
WE GET COMPENSATION, WE PROMISE WE WILL GIVE 
ITALY TRUE FRIENDSHIP AND COOPERATION."  HE ALSO 
SAID HE BELIEVES ITALY "WILL SUPPORT LIBYA'S 
POSITION ON LOCKERBIE, AS WILL OTHER EUROPEAN 
COUNTRIES." 
 
 
OCCHETTO SAYS ITALIAN COLONIALISM "A BLEMISH" 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
3.  QADHAFI SEEMED TO BE RESPONDING TO STATEMENTS 
BY ACHILLE OCCHETTO, PRESIDENT OF THE ITALIAN 
CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES' FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE 
(AND FORMER ITALIAN COMMUNIST PARTY LEADER). 
INTERVIEWED ON ITALIAN NATIONAL RADIO THE 
PREVIOUS DAY, OCCHETTO HAD STRESSED THE "TIES 
BETWEEN THE TWO SHORES OF THE MEDITERRANEAN" AND 
COMMENTED POSITIVELY ON THE GOI'S EFFORTS TO 
NORMALIZE RELATIONS WITH LIBYA (REFTEL). 
ACCORDING TO OCCHETTO, QADHAFI'S REPEATED 
REQUESTS FOR INDEMNITY PAYMENTS APPEAR TO BE 
"EXAGGERATED."  HOWEVER, OCCHETTO SAID, ITALIAN 
COLONIALISM WAS A "BLEMISH [ON ITALY'S PAST].  IT 
WAS ITALY'S MISTAKE, AND ITALY MUST RECOGNIZE 
IT."  OCCHETTO DID NOT SEEM TO BE CONCERNED ABOUT 
POSSIBLE U.S. DISCONTENT OVER ITALY'S EFFORTS. 
HE SAID, "THE POLICY OF DIALOGUE WITH COUNTRIES 
OVER WHICH THE U.S. HAS PLACED SOME SORT OF VETO 
CAN BE MUCH MORE USEFUL TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF 
FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY THAN THE POLICY OF 
ISOLATION." 
 
 
SERRI SAYS QADHAFI'S REQUESTS ARE "LEGITIMATE" 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
4.  QADHAFI'S REQUESTS RECEIVED POSITIVE, PUBLIC 
RESPONSES FROM TWO OTHER AUTHORITATIVE ITALIAN 
NEO-COMMUNISTS -- ONE OF WHOM, RINO SERRI, IS 
CURRENTLY UNDER SECRETARY AT THE MFA.  IN AN OPEN 
LETTER IN THE ITALIAN COMMUNIST DAILY "IL 
MANIFESTO"  NOVEMBER 2, SERRI CHARACTERIZED 
QADHAFI'S REQUEST FOR ITALY'S CONDEMNATION OF ITS 
COLONIAL PERIOD AS "LEGITIMATE," ADDING THAT 
ITALY SHOULD "REMOVE EVERY VESTIGE OF ITS 
COLONIAL PAST IN LIBYA."  ACCORDING TO SERRI, 
"ITALY MUST CREATE THE CONDITIONS FOR LIBYA TO 
COME OUT OF ITS ISOLATION" THROUGH THE 
EURO-MEDITERRANEAN PARTNERSHIP, WHICH, HE SAID, 
"CANNOT GROW WITHOUT LIBYA'S FULL 
PARTICIPATION."  HE NOTED THAT "MEDITERRANEAN 
PEACE, SECURITY, AND PROGRESS" ARE INCREASINGLY 
BECOMING ISSUES REQUIRING FULL COOPERATION 
BETWEEN THE TWO SHORES OF THE MEDITERRANEAN, AND 
UNDERSCORED LIBYA'S STEPS IN THIS DIRECTION, 
INCLUDING ITS CALL FOR ARAB UNIFICATION AGAINST 
ISLAMIC TERRORISM.  SERRI SAID ITALIAN PM PRODI'S 
CENTER-LEFT GOVERNMENT HAS BEEN WORKING SINCE 
SUMMER 1996 TO "BEGIN A NEW AND POSITIVE PERIOD 
IN LIBYAN-ITALIAN RELATIONS."  ACCORDING TO 
SERRI, "THIS IS THE WAY TO MAKE IT EASIER ONE DAY 
TO OVERCOME" THE U.N. EMBARGO AGAINST LIBYA, 
"WHICH ALL OF US SHOULD HOPE WILL NOT LAST TOO 
MUCH LONGER."  SERRI'S COMMENT WAS IN REPLY TO AN 
OPEN LETTER IN THE SAME PAPER OCTOBER 31 BY 
VALENTINO PARLATO, "MANIFESTO" EDITOR AND 
POLITICAL COMMENTATOR (AND A NATIVE OF TRIPOLI), 
WHO ENCOURAGED SERRI "TO REACH A PEACEFUL 
SOLUTION WITH ITALY'S FORMER COLONY." 
 
 
FORZA ITALIA SAYS REMEMBER LOCKERBIE 
------------------------------------ 
 
5.  QADHAFI'S REQUESTS SPARKED A DIAMETRICALLY 
OPPOSITE REACTION FROM JAS GAWRONSKI, 
CENTER-RIGHT FORZA ITALIA'S GROUP LEADER AT THE 
SENATE FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE.  ACCORDING TO 
GAWRONSKI, LIBYA CAN NORMALIZE ITS RELATIONS WITH 
THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY "ONLY IF IT COMPLIES 
WITH INTERNATIONAL LAW AND COOPERATES POSITIVELY 
IN FINDING A SOLUTION ON LOCKERBIE."  IF THE GOI 
WERE TO IGNORE THE ABOVE, GAWRONSKI SAID, IT 
WOULD "OPEN A VERY DIFFICULT PERIOD IN ITALY'S 
TRADITIONAL RELATIONS OF FRIENDSHIP WITH THE U.S. 
AND WITH ALL THE COUNTRIES THAT HAVE ALWAYS 
STRUGGLED AGAINST INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM AND ITS 
RAMIFICATIONS." 
 
LIBYAN DELEGATION IN ITALY 
-------------------------- 
 
6.  THE PRESS OCTOBER 28-29 ALSO REPORTED THE 
LATE-OCTOBER YEARLY VISIT TO ITALY BY A 
DELEGATION OF RELATIVES OF THOSE LIBYANS WHO WERE 
ALLEGEDLY DEPORTED HERE, AND THEIR YEARLY 
REQUESTS TO THE GOI FOR: 
 
--  MAPS INDICATING THE PLACEMENT OF 
ANTI-PERSONNEL LAND MINES; 
 
--  TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO REMOVE THE LAND MINES; 
 
--  MEDICAL ASSISTANCE TO THOSE WHO WERE INJURED 
OR CRIPPLED BY LAND MINE EXPLOSIONS;  AND 
 
--  COMPENSATION FOR DAMAGES. 
 
 
GOI READYING ITALY-LIBYA AGREEMENT 
---------------------------------- 
 
7.  ACCORDING TO THE PROVOCATIVE, CLASSICAL 
LIBERAL DAILY "IL FOGLIO" OCTOBER 31 AND NOVEMBER 
6, UNIDENTIFIED ITALIAN MFA SOURCES SAID THAT THE 
SIGNING OF AN ITALIAN-LIBYAN BILATERAL AGREEMENT 
(THAT WILL ALSO SETTLE PENDING COLONIAL ISSUES) 
"IS GETTING CLOSER."  ACCORDING TO "IL FOGLIO," 
THE AGREEMENT WOULD OPEN THE WAY FOR 
"CONSIDERABLE OPPORTUNITIES IN THE ENERGY AND 
INFRASTRUCTURE SECTORS, BUT WOULD MOST CERTAINLY 
PROVOKE U.S. RESENTMENT."  THIS NOTWITHSTANDING, 
"IL FOGLIO" NOTED THAT UNIDENTIFIED GOI SOURCES 
INDICATED THAT ITALY "WANTS TO MOVE THE SAME WAY 
AS FRANCE DID IN IRAN WITH ITS 'TOTAL' 
MAXI-CONTRACT." 
 

CUNNINGHAM