Italy, Libya back military action in Mali

Italian Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi and his visiting Libyan counterpart Mohammed Abdelaziz on Monday reiterated their countries' support for the ongoing military operation in Mali. Terzi told a joint news conference following their talks that Italy and Libya "politically support" the operation set in motion by the international community and sanctioned by a UN resolution. He said they had also backed the strengthening of the ECOWAS initiative, which should contribute to the rapid stabilization of the entire Sahel. He added that negotiations on the issue of loans by Italian firms to Libya "are proceeding satisfactorily". For his part, the Libyan foreign minister hailed Italy as a key country for political and material support to Libya. On the issue of loans, he said: "We are working hard to reach an agreement and in the coming weeks we could have some good news." He added that the Libyan premier will be in Rome in the coming weeks, hoping that it would produce concrete steps in this respect. The Libyan minister stressed the importance of the upcoming conference in Paris on 12 February, saying "without security no environment can hope to encourage investments, and without security, we cannot build our democratic institutions or an environment open to investments."