Libya, Italy revive Friendship Treaty

2011-12-16

Libya and Italy agreed Thursday (December 15th) to revive their 2008 Friendship, Partnership and Co-Operation Treaty, BBC reported. Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti made the announcement after meeting in Rome with Libyan National Transitional Council (NTC) chairman Mustafa Abdul Jalil.

Italy would continue to unfreeze Libyan assets, Monti said. Some 600 million euros in assets have been released thus far.

Before the Libya-Italy accord was suspended last February with the start of the anti-Kadhafi revolt, Italy had been a close ally and economic partner. More than 180 Italian businesses have taken advantage of the favorable terms for trade links, including Finmeccanica, Impreglio and ENI, which became the biggest foreign energy producer in Libya.

The 2008 Italy-Libya Friendship Treaty included construction of a 1,700-kilometre coastal motorway in Libya. The deal also allows Italy to send back immigrants reaching its shores from Libya.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2011/12/16/newsbrief-03.