ROME: Italy’s government shifted blame Wednesday for its much-criticized release of a Libyan war crimes suspect to the International Criminal Court (ICC), which it said had presented a poorly written arrest warrant.
Osama Almasri Najim, the head of Libya’s judicial police, was arrested in the northern Italian city of Turin on January 19 on an ICC warrant, only to be released and flown home to Tripoli two days later on an Italian air force plane.
Opposition parties have denounced the decision to free a man wanted on charges including murder, rape and torture relating to his management of Tripoli’s Mitiga detention center.
Justice Minister Carlo Nordio told parliament Wednesday that Najim had been arrested on a warrant “that I do not hesitate to define as characterised by inaccuracies, omissions, discrepancies and contradictory conclusions.”
Najim was freed after an appeals court refused to validate his arrest.
The justice minister said the court had noted discrepancies concerning dates within the arrest warrant, with crimes attributed to Najim in places dated to February 2011 and others to February 2015.
“An irreconcilable contradiction emerges regarding an essential element of the criminal conduct of the arrested person, regarding the time of the crime committed,” said Nordio, citing “patent, gross and serious contradictions” within the warrant.
The ICC six days later sent a “corrected version” of the arrest warrant, Nordio said, including the dissenting opinion of a judge who had questioned a lack of jurisdiction by the court.
AFP asked for comment from the ICC, but did not immediately receive a response.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni revealed last week that she, Nordio and Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi were under investigation over the case.
A complaint had been made to a Rome prosecutor, who passed it onto the special court that considers cases against ministers.
Elly Schlein, leader of the center-left opposition Democratic Party, said Wednesday that Italy’s “international credibility has been tarnished” by the case.
And she called again for Meloni to come to parliament herself to explain what she said was the government’s “deliberate choice... to free and escort home a Libyan torturer.”
“What kind of country do we want to be, colleagues? On the side of the tortured or on the side of the torturers?” Schlein asked in parliament.
Piantedosi spoke to MPs shortly after Nordio, where he repeated that once Najim had been released from custody, he was deemed too dangerous to remain in Italy.
He denied suggestions that Italy had bowed to pressure from Libya in repatriating Najim.
Some opposition politicians have alleged the suspect was sent home to avoid jeopardizing relations with Libya.
Italy has a controversial agreement dating from 2017 with the UN-backed Libyan government in Tripoli in which Rome provides training and funding to the Libyan coast guard for help deterring the departures of migrants, or returning those already at sea back to Libya.
“I deny in the most categorical manner that... the government received any act or communication that could even remotely be considered a form of undue pressure,” Piantedosi said.

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index dipped on Wednesday, losing 19.53 points, or 0.16 percent, to close at 12,414.40.

The total trading turnover of the benchmark index was SR7.01 billion ($1.87 billion), as 102 stocks advanced, while 122 retreated.   

The MSCI Tadawul Index decreased by 4.85 points, or 0.31 percent, to close at 1,543.76.

The Kingdom’s parallel market, Nomu, rose 0.17 percent gaining 54.22 points to close at 31,250.59. This comes as 33 stocks advanced, while 47 retreated.

The best-performing stock was Ash-Sharqiyah Development Co. with its share price surging by 6.74 percent to SR22.82.

Other top performers included the Zamil Industrial Investment Co., which saw its share price rise by 4.61 percent to SR35.20, and Americana Restaurants International PLC - Foreign Co., which saw a 4.44 percent increase to SR2.59.

The worst performer of the day was Kingdom Holding Co., whose share price fell by 2.97 percent to SR10.46.

The Co. for Cooperative Insurance and SABIC Agri-Nutrients Co. also saw declines, with their shares dropping by 2.3 percent and 2.27 percent to SR153.20 and SR112, respectively.

On the announcements front, Arab National Bank announced its annual financial results for 2024 with net profits before zakat and income tax reaching SR5.7 billion up by 21.1 percent compared to the previous year.

In a statement on Tadawul, the company said the surge was driven by higher net special commission income, fee and commission income, trading gains, and dividend income. It was also supported by lower impairment charges on real estate and reduced allowance charges for expected credit losses and other provisions.

“However, this growth was partially offset by an increase in the costs related to salaries and employee related expenses, depreciation and amortization, other general and administrative expenses and premises related expenses, along with a decline in net gains on non-trading instruments, net other operating income and net exchange income,” the statement added.

ANB’s total comprehensive income amounted to SR4.6 billion in 2024, and total operations profit reached SR9.5 billion.

In today’s trading session, the shares of Arab National Bank traded 0.37 percent lower on the main market to close at SR21.44.