Gaddafi and Berlusconi to share Ramadan fast-breaking meal

Aug 30, 2010, 10:24 GMT

Rome - Libyan leader Moammer Gaddafi was scheduled to share an evening Ramadan fast-breaking with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlsuconi on Monday, during the second day of his visit to Rome.

The Libyan leader, after arriving in the Italian capital on Sunday, triggered criticism when, in a meeting with hundreds of Italian young women, he reportedly expressed hope that Islam would become the main religion of Europe.

'If I went to Tripoli to tell the Libyans to convert to Christianity, I bet I wouldn't come back in one piece,' said Rocco Buttiglione, a leading member of the opposition centrist UDC party said.

Gaddafi's trip to Italy marks the second anniversary of the signing of a friendship accord in which Berlusconi's conservative government agreed to pay Libya some 5 billion dollars in compensation for transgressions committed during three decades of Italian colonial rule over the North African nation.

Opposition leaders, human rights activists and Catholic Church officials also renewed their condemnation of a Rome-Tripoli pact which allows for the immediate deportation to Libya of would-be immigrants intercepted in international waters.

Critics say the so-called 'push-backs' violate the rights of asylum seekers including those fleeing from religious and political persecution.

'Before (the accord), some 75 per cent of those who arrived in Italy via Libya would request asylum and following individual assessments, in 50 per cent of those cases the request would be granted,' said Laura Boldrini a spokeswoman for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR).

With the drastic cut in Mediterranean crossings since the accord came into effect, and a decision by the Tripoli authorities to restrict the UNHCR's operations in Libya, such asylum seekers have been left in 'limbo' Boldrini said.

For his visit, Gaddafi, who has brought his own Bedouin tent, which has been pitched in the garden of the plush residence of Libya's ambassador to Rome, is accompanied by an entourage which also includes around 30 Berber horses.

The animals are set to take part at an equestrian show to be held at military barracks in Rome where Gaddafi and Berlusconi will celebrate the 2008 friendship agreement.

In terms of the deal the 5 billion dollars pledged over 20 years will mostly be paid to Italian companies to build a road across Libya from Tunisia to Egypt.

Gaddafi's visit to Italy - the North African country's biggest trade partner - is his fourth in two years.