Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon concluded a two-day visit to Rome Friday after meeting senior Italian officials amidst tight security, media blockage and criticism by opposition parties on the hawkish Israeli leader’s visit, reported the Kuwaiti official news agency (KUNA).
Sharon, quoted by the Italian news agency, described the atmosphere of talks with Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi as friendly. He said the reception in Italy was the warmest in Europe and added that points of view were very close.
Sharon met earlier in the day with Defense Minister Antonio Martino, an old friend for the Jewish state, and the Jewish community in Italy.
At the parliament, Martino, also deputy chairman of Italy Israel friendships society, called for preventing the Arab-Israeli conflict from reaching what he called "final solution," according to the report.
Martino said his meeting with Sharon was at the latter's personal request. Shortly after arriving in Rome on Thursday, Sharon met president Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, Foreign Minister Renato Ruggiero And Berlusconi. News reports suggested that Italy understood the Israeli hardline policy in the Middle East.
The Italian news agency said Ciampi called on Sharon to cease escalation in occupied Palestine and be committed to dialogue. Berlusconi, who was described by Sharon as a big friend for Israel, did not give any statement after the meeting. Meanwhile, leftist opposition leaders lashed out at Sharon because he did not meet them.
Secretary general of the communist party, Diliberto, said Sharon was depending to gain backing of Italian rightists because he failed to win support of Spain, France and Germany. Diliberto said Sharon was responsible for the 1982 massacres in Sabra and Shatilla camps in Lebanon, while European parliamentarian Louisa Morgantini called for sending Sharon to the war crimes tribunal for crimes against humanity, added the agency – Albawaba.com
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