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Missile lands near Italian warship off Libya
Aug 3, 2011, 14:18 GMT
Rome - A missile, possibly fired from Libya, on Wednesday plunged into the sea about two kilometres from an Italian warship, officials said.
The frigate, Bersagliere, was some 12 nautical miles (22 kilometres) from the Libyan coast when the incident happened, Defence Minster Ignazio La Russa said.
'It could have been a Libyan missile or an anti-aircraft missile which fell into the sea,' La Russa said, suggesting that the projectile may have also been fired by Italian or other NATO aircraft patrolling the area.
Italy is part of the NATO mission which for the past four months has intervened to enforce a United Nations sanctioned no-fly zone imposed to prevent forces loyal to Libyan leader Moamer Gaddafi from attacking civilians in rebel-held areas of the North African country.
In 1986 Gaddafi's military fired several Scud missiles which narrowly missed the southern Italian island of Lampedusa. The action was in retaliation for a US bombing campaign ordered by then president Ronald Reagan who had accused Libya of masterminding the bombing of a Berlin disco frequented by US troops.
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