Controversial Italian ex-PM Berlusconi took pride in ties with Arab world

Forza Italia leader Silvio Berlusconi speaks on stage on September 22, 2022 in Rome. (AFP/File)
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Updated 13 June 2023
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Controversial Italian ex-PM Berlusconi took pride in ties with Arab world

  • Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi, Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak, Tunisia’s Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali were among leaders he called friends
  • He was also a friend of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and a vocal supporter of Turkiye’s entry to EU

ROME: Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian former prime minister who died on Monday at the age of 86, took pride in his personal connections with the Arab world and its leaders, however controversial they might have proven to be in the West.

He never hid his friendship with Muammar Gaddafi, for example, visiting the late Libyan leader at his headquarters near Tripoli a number of times.

In 2008, he signed an important political agreement with Gaddafi to “compensate” Libya for Italian colonial occupation between 1911 and 1943. 
Italy pledged to pay Libya $5 million and fund construction of a highway between the cities of Tripoli and Benghazi. 
In exchange, the Libyan government agreed to invest in Italy and provide Rome with an important supply of gas and oil.

It was Berlusconi who invited Gaddafi to attend the G8 Summit in Italy in July 2009, during which a historic handshake between the Libyan leader and US President Barack Obama took place.

When Gaddafi was overthrown and killed in October 2011, Berlusconi did not express an official position. 
However, one of his closest aides told Arab News: “In a private meeting a few days later, he said he was sorry and added that from that moment things would go differently in North Africa, with difficult consequences for Italy as well.”

Berlusconi also enjoyed a very close relationship with Egypt’s late President Hosni Mubarak, visiting him several times in Cairo while prime minister, and their countries signed a number of agreements on economic and military cooperation.

He also enjoyed a good friendship with Tunisia’s late President Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali. Berlusconi held personal financial interests in the country, especially in the film industry, and one of his oldest and most trusted business associates was Tunisian film producer and businessman Tarek Ben Ammar

Through a complex web of personal and business relationships, Berlusconi was also a personal friend of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, even serving as best man at the wedding of one of the Turkish president’s sons.

Berlusconi was one of the most vocal supporters of Turkiye’s entry to the EU, so much so that some Turkish newspapers described him as “Ankara’s lawyer.”

He said during an interview with Italian daily newspaper Corriere della Sera: “I am convinced that it is in the interests of the European people and of the West to have Turkey in the European Union to foster dialogue between the Western world and Muslim cultures in order to avoid conflicts in the future.”

Berlusconi also had personal links with Rafik Hariri, the billionaire and five-time prime minister of Lebanon who was killed, along with 21 other people, in February 2005 when his motorcade was targeted by a bomb hidden in a van.

During a meeting in Beirut with Hariri’s son Saad, who subsequently also served as prime minister of Lebanon, Berlusconi reportedly said he felt “honored” to call himself a friend of his father and praised his efforts to modernize his country.


Turkiye’s foreign minister visits Athens to help mend ties between the regional rivals

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Turkiye’s foreign minister visits Athens to help mend ties between the regional rivals

ATHENS, Greece: Turkiye’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan arrived Friday in Athens for meetings with his Greek counterpart as part of efforts to ease tension between the two neighbors and regional rivals.
Both NATO members, Greece and Turkiye have been at loggerheads for decades over a long series of issues, including volatile maritime boundary disputes that have twice led them to the brink of war. The two have renewed a diplomatic push for over a year to improve ties.
“Step by step, we have achieved a level of trust so that we can discuss issues with sincerity and prevent crises,” Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis said in an interview with Turkiye’s Hurriyet newspaper published Thursday.
The meeting between the two foreign ministers follows a series of high-profile talks between Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as part of a relation-mending initiative launched in 2023.
Officials in Athens are expected to raise concerns about rising illegal migration, as Greece has seen an uptick in arrivals. And, despite deep disagreements on Israel and fighting in the Middle East, both foreign ministers are also expected to explore ways to improve regional stability.
The talks will help set the stage for a Greece-Turkiye high-level cooperation council planned for early 2025 in Ankara, Turkiye.

Turkiye’s Erdogan hopes Trump will tell Israel to “stop,” NTV reports

Updated 9 min 57 sec ago
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Turkiye’s Erdogan hopes Trump will tell Israel to “stop,” NTV reports

ANKARA: Turkiye’s President Tayyip Erdogan said that he hoped US President-elect Donald Trump will tell Israel to “stop” the attacks and halting arms support to Israel could be a good start, broadcaster NTV reported on Friday.
Trump’s presidency will seriously affect political and military balances in the Middle East region, Erdogan was quoted as telling reporters on his flight back to Turkiye from Budapest, where he attended a European Political Community summit. 


Nearly 70% of Gaza war dead women and children, UN rights office says

Updated 15 min 55 sec ago
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Nearly 70% of Gaza war dead women and children, UN rights office says

  • UN Human Rights Office: Systematic violation of the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law
  • The youngest victim whose death was verified by UN monitors was a one-day-old boy, and the oldest was a 97-year-old woman

GENEVA: The UN Human Rights Office said on Friday nearly 70 percent of the fatalities it has verified in the Gaza war were women and children, and condemned what it called a systematic violation of the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law.
The UN count covers the first seven months of the Israel-Hamas conflict in the Gaza Strip that began more than a year ago.
The 8,119 victims verified by the UN Rights Office in that seven-month period is considerably lower than the toll of over 43,000 provided by Palestinian health authorities for the full 13 months of conflict.
But the UN breakdown of the victims’ age and gender backs the Palestinian assertion that women and children represent a large portion of those killed in the war.
This finding indicates “a systematic violation of the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law, including distinction and proportionality,” the UN rights office said in a statement accompanying the 32-page report.
“It is essential that there is due reckoning with respect to the allegations of serious violations of international law through credible and impartial judicial bodies and that, in the meantime, all relevant information and evidence are collected and preserved,” United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said.
Israel did not immediately comment on the report’s findings.
Israel’s military, which began its offensive in response to the Oct. 7, 2023 attack in which Hamas fighters killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel and seized more than 250 hostages, says it takes care to avoid harming civilians in Gaza.
It has said approximately one civilian has been killed for every fighter, a ratio it blames on Hamas, saying the Palestinian militant group uses civilian facilities. Hamas has denied using civilians and civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, as human shields.
YOUNGEST VICTIM AGED ONE DAY
The youngest victim whose death was verified by UN monitors was a one-day-old boy, and the oldest was a 97-year-old woman, the report said.
Overall, children represented 44 percent of the victims, with children aged five-nine representing the single biggest age category, followed by those aged 10-14, and then those aged up to and including four.
This broadly reflects the enclave’s demographics, which the report said reflected an apparent failure to take precautions to avoid civilian losses.
It showed that in 88 percent of cases, five or more people were killed in the same attack, pointing to the Israeli military’s use of weapons with an effect across a wide area, although it said some fatalities may have been the result of errant projectiles from Palestinian armed groups.


Khamenei aide warns against impulsive Iran response to Israel attack

Updated 54 min 27 sec ago
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Khamenei aide warns against impulsive Iran response to Israel attack

  • Israel is engaged in conflicts with the Iran-backed Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in Lebanon
  • Israeli warplanes struck military sites in Iran on October 26 in retaliation for a large Iranian missile attack

TEHRAN: An adviser to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has warned against launching an “instinctive” response to Israeli air strikes on the Islamic republic last month.
Israel, Iran’s sworn enemy, is engaged in conflicts with the Iran-backed Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Israeli warplanes struck military sites in Iran on October 26 in retaliation for a large Iranian missile attack on Israel at the start of the month.
“Israel aims to bring the conflict to Iran. We must act wisely to avoid its trap and not react instinctively,” the adviser, Ali Larijani, told state television late Thursday.
Iran said it fired 200 missiles at Israel on October 1 in response to the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in a strike on Beirut and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh while he was in Tehran.
After Israel hit back, it warned Iran against any counterattack, but the Islamic republic has vowed to respond.
“Our actions and reactions are strategically defined, so we must avoid instinctive or emotional responses and remain entirely rational,” Larijani added.
The former parliament speaker also praised Nasrallah for accepting a ceasefire during the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war rather than making an “emotional decision.”
On Sunday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said a potential ceasefire between Tehran’s allies and Israel could affect Iran’s response to the Israeli strikes.


Hezbollah claims second attack on Israel naval base in 24 hours

Updated 08 November 2024
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Hezbollah claims second attack on Israel naval base in 24 hours

  • The group had on Thursday claimed another attack on the same area
  • Israel has been at war with Lebanon’s Hezbollah since late September

BEIRUT: Hezbollah said it targeted a naval base near the Israeli city of Haifa with missiles Friday, the second such attack in less than 24 hours.
The Iran-backed Lebanese group said it targeted the “Stella Maris” naval base northwest of Haifa with a missile barrage, “in response to the attacks and massacres committed by the Israeli enemy.”
The group had on Thursday claimed another attack on the same area.
In a separate statement, the group claimed that it had also targeted the Ramat David air base, southeast of Haifa, with missiles.
Israel has been at war with Lebanon’s Hezbollah since late September when it broadened its focus from fighting Hamas in the Gaza Strip to securing its northern border.
It escalated its air campaign and later sent in ground forces into the country’s south.
This came after a year of cross-border exchanges with Hezbollah, which has said it was acting in support of Hamas Palestinian militants fighting Israel in Gaza.
The war has killed more than 2,600 people in Lebanon since September 23, according to the Lebanese health ministry.