ROME, Oct 29, 2007 (AFP) - Italy and Libya are poised to sign a treaty designed to settle the question of compensation for Italy's colonisation of the country, Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema reportedly said Monday.
"We have certain debts owed to Libya but we also have a fundamental interest in our links with this essential partner," ANSA news agency quoted D'Alema as saying.
"The moment has arrived to take a further step and I hope that here in a few days time we can announce an important accord between Italy and Libya."
He said the accord would close "a sad chapter in history" but gave no details on the amount of compensation being offered.
The minister was speaking during a conference on the deportation of Libyans to the Adriatic Italian islands of Tremiti in 1911 and 1912.
Once part of the Ottoman Empire, Libya was occupied by Italy in 1911 and became an Italian colony in the 1930s. The country gained its independence in 1951 after a brief period under a UN mandated Franco-British administration.
The history of Italian-Libyan relations have been plagued by tensions caused by their shared colonial history.
In recent years negotiations on a treaty floundered pending the construction of a six million euro (8.6 million dollars) motorway in Libya which former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi promised to finance during a trip to Tripoli in 2004.
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Italy-Libya-diplomacy
