Unexpectedly, this weekend a diplomatic conflict between France and Italy following an event that occurred 43 years ago. Former Italian Prime Minister Giuliano Amato (1992-93 and 2000-2001) has accused France of being the author of the demolition of a civilian plane in 1980 who 81 people died, for which he has urged Paris to apologize. The demolition, apparently, occurred through the use of a missile and occurred by mistake.
Amato launched this accusation in an interview published this Saturday by the newspaper ‘The Republic’ in which he explained that the French objective was to kill the then Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi, but the missile ended up hitting a civilian plane by mistake.
The aircraft, a DC9 of the Italian airline Itaviacrashed in the Mediterranean near the Italian island of Ustica on June 27, 1980 without the causes having been clarified up to now, which triggered speculation about a possible air combat between Libyan and NATO aircraft or to the existence of a bomb on board. Over the years, the incident has been the subject of several judicial investigations, but none has been able to give a clear result.
request for apology
Now, Amato, 85, has revealed that “the most likely possibility” is the shot down by a French fighter plane and for this reason he has summoned the French president, Emmanuel Macron, to apologize on behalf of France. “Silence does not seem to me to be the solution,” she has indicated.
In response to this revelation, the French Government has indicated that in its day already gave all the information he had about that incident, but he added that he will collaborate again with Romeif requested, before the allegations of possible French responsibility.
In this interview, the former Italian president pointed out: “The most credible version is that of the responsibility of the French Air Force, with the complicity of the Americans” and from other NATO countries. Amato regretted that France and NATO have not clarified what happened and speaks of “a crime for reasons of state.”Why keep hiding the truth?”he asks himself rhetorically before answering that “the time has come to shed light about a terrible State secret – or rather – a State secret”.
The veteran Italian politician has also charged against the current French president, and has asked himself: “Why a young president like Macron, also oblivious to the Ustica tragedy, does not want to remove the shame that weighs on France. And you can only eliminate it in two ways: by demonstrating that this thesis is unfounded or, once its validity has been verified, by offering a deep apology to Italy and to the families of the victims on behalf of their Government”.
Meloni
Given the seriousness of the announcement made by Amato, the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, has asked him to make “available to the Government” the elements at his disposal to ensure that the plane that crashed into the sea on the Italian island of Ustica (south) in 1980, with 81 people on boardwas shot down by a French missile intended to kill the late Libyan dictator Muammar al-Gaddafi.
“Amato’s are important words that deserve attention”, although they respond to “personal deductions”, Meloni has written on her social networks, in which she recalls that “no act related to the DC9 tragedy is protected by the state secret and that the judicial authorities and parliamentary investigative committees have done a great job over the decades.”
For this reason, “I ask President Amato to know if, in addition to the deductions, he is in possession of elements that make it possible to return to the conclusions of the judiciary and Parliament and make them available to the government so that he can take all the consequent steps,” added Meloni.
The tragedy of Ustica, one of the biggest enigmas of Italian aviationis still shrouded in mystery more than four decades later, as subsequent investigations suggested that he was killed, but the causes or authors were never known.
Amato maintains that “andThe plan was to skin Gaddafi, who was flying a MIG from his air force. And the plan was to simulate a NATO exercise, with many planes in action, during which a missile would be fired at the Libyan leader: the exercise was a set-up that would allow the attack to be passed off as an ‘involuntary accident’.”
Bettino Craxi tip-off
However, things happened differently, since Gaddafi was warned of the danger (by the late Italian socialist leader Bettino Craxi, he says) and did not get on his plane. And the missile launched against the Libyan MIG ended up hitting the Itavia DC9 that sank with eighty-one innocent people inside,” added the former president of the Italian Constitutional Court.
These statements have raised a reaction flurryfrom the families of the victims, who are grateful for his words, to those who consider them historically wrong, although most ask that he provide evidence.
The president of the association of the relatives of the victims, Daria Bonfietti, He assured that Amato’s words “are very important and a correct reconstruction of everything that is in the documents, which we have known for years.” Now “I hope something from France and for the Italian Government to act to be held accountable. It is not right for our allies to treat us like this,” he added to local media.
Related news
the vice president Matteo Salvini said that Amato’s words “are of unprecedented gravity”, asked to know “if there are concrete elements that support his words” and added: “Given the weight of statements and its relevant role at the time of the events, we await the comments of the French authorities.”
For her part, the daughter of Bettino Craxi, the socialist leader who, according to Amato, warned Gaddafi that he was going to be attacked, has indicated that Amato confuses the dates, Well, his father did alert the Libyan leader, but in 1986. “It is a reconstruction that impacts due to the historical inaccuracies it contains,” he said Stefania Craxisenator of the conservative Forza Italia.