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| Version 4 | Version 5 |
|---|---|
| Gaddafi begins first Italy visit | Gaddafi begins first Italy visit |
| (30 minutes later) | |
| Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has arrived in Rome on his first visit to Italy, Libya's former colonial ruler and now its biggest trading partner. | Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has arrived in Rome on his first visit to Italy, Libya's former colonial ruler and now its biggest trading partner. |
| He is being accompanied by a delegation of Libyan businessmen looking to boost their investments in Italian industry. | He is being accompanied by a delegation of Libyan businessmen looking to boost their investments in Italian industry. |
| Colonel Gaddafi will, as usual, be staying in the tent he takes on foreign trips, and will meet Italy's president and prime minister. | Colonel Gaddafi will, as usual, be staying in the tent he takes on foreign trips, and will meet Italy's president and prime minister. |
| Talks are also expected to focus on the issue of illegal immigration. | Talks are also expected to focus on the issue of illegal immigration. |
| Col Gaddafi - dressed in full military regalia and heading a 200-member entourage - was given a red-carpet welcome by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi at Rome's Ciampino airport. | Col Gaddafi - dressed in full military regalia and heading a 200-member entourage - was given a red-carpet welcome by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi at Rome's Ciampino airport. |
| Security will be tight during the three-day visit, says the BBC's David Willey in Rome. | Security will be tight during the three-day visit, says the BBC's David Willey in Rome. |
| Demonstrations are planned by left-wing students who are against Mr Berlusconi's policy - with Libyan help - of intercepting and forcibly repatriating immigrants who try to reach Italy by sea. | Demonstrations are planned by left-wing students who are against Mr Berlusconi's policy - with Libyan help - of intercepting and forcibly repatriating immigrants who try to reach Italy by sea. |
| Special arrangements | Special arrangements |
| Col Gaddafi is expected to meet his visitors in his Bedouin-style tent which has been set up in the park of a 17th Century Roman villa where he is staying. | Col Gaddafi is expected to meet his visitors in his Bedouin-style tent which has been set up in the park of a 17th Century Roman villa where he is staying. |
| href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/08/europe_enl_1244641418/html/1.stm" onClick="window.open('http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/08/europe_enl_1244641418/html/1.stm', '1244641876', 'toolbar=0,scrollbars=0,location=0,statusbar=0,menubar=0,resizable=1,width=470,height=628,left=312,top=100'); return false;">Muammar Gaddafi wore a carefully selected photo on arrival in Rome href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/08/europe_enl_1244641418/html/1.stm" onClick="window.open('http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/08/europe_enl_1244641418/html/1.stm', '1244641876', 'toolbar=0,scrollbars=0,location=0,statusbar=0,menubar=0,resizable=1,width=470,height=628,left=312,top=100'); return false;" >Enlarge Image | |
| He is also due to address a group of 700 women at Rome's concert hall, having requested a meeting with prominent Italian women from the fields of business, politics and culture. | He is also due to address a group of 700 women at Rome's concert hall, having requested a meeting with prominent Italian women from the fields of business, politics and culture. |
| He held a similar meeting on a visit to Paris in 2007 with 1,000 selected women guests, who were told he wanted to "save European women." | He held a similar meeting on a visit to Paris in 2007 with 1,000 selected women guests, who were told he wanted to "save European women." |
| Col Gaddafi, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the African Union, will return to Rome next month as a delegate to the Group of Eight (G8) summit. | Col Gaddafi, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the African Union, will return to Rome next month as a delegate to the Group of Eight (G8) summit. |
| But this is his first visit to Italy since he took power in a coup in 1969, following Italy's 30-year occupation of Libya. | But this is his first visit to Italy since he took power in a coup in 1969, following Italy's 30-year occupation of Libya. |
| The BBC's correspondent in Tripoli, Rana Jawad, says the two countries have had a love-hate relationship. | The BBC's correspondent in Tripoli, Rana Jawad, says the two countries have had a love-hate relationship. |
| Since independence the Italian language has been effectively banned in Libya, she says, while Italian settlers were expelled soon after Col Gaddafi took power and barred from ever returning. | Since independence the Italian language has been effectively banned in Libya, she says, while Italian settlers were expelled soon after Col Gaddafi took power and barred from ever returning. |
| Italy's brutal occupation of Libya, when tens of thousands of Libyans were forcibly moved to concentration camps, was not easily forgotten, she says. | Italy's brutal occupation of Libya, when tens of thousands of Libyans were forcibly moved to concentration camps, was not easily forgotten, she says. |
| But in the past few years the relationship has flourished and even turned to friendship. | But in the past few years the relationship has flourished and even turned to friendship. |
| Business deals have surged and expelled settlers are now allowed to visit. | Business deals have surged and expelled settlers are now allowed to visit. |
| And last year Rome agreed to pay Libya $5bn (£3bn) in reparations for the misdeeds of colonial times. | And last year Rome agreed to pay Libya $5bn (£3bn) in reparations for the misdeeds of colonial times. |
| What do you think Gaddafi's visit to Italy will achieve? Send us your comments using the form below. | What do you think Gaddafi's visit to Italy will achieve? Send us your comments using the form below. |
| The BBC may edit your comments and not all emails will be published. Your comments may be published on any BBC media worldwide. Terms & Conditions | The BBC may edit your comments and not all emails will be published. Your comments may be published on any BBC media worldwide. Terms & Conditions |