ROME, Jun 10, 2009 (AFP) - Libya's eccentric leader Moamer Kadhafi was Wednesday to begin his first visit to Italy, where the "king of kings of Africa" will pitch his trademark tent in a Rome park.
Kadhafi will receive guests in the tent in the Villa Doria Pamphili and will sleep in the sumptuous 13th-century palace of the same name that overlooks the park in a residential area of the Italian capital.
The Libyan leader is proud of his nomadic heritage and maintains a lavish tent in the desert outside the central town of Sirte where he often receives foreign guests.
Kadhafi will bring an entourage of 200 to 300 people, according to an Italian source in Tripoli, who said: "It will cost Italy a lot. But as everyone knows, Libya is very important for Rome."
The three-day visit seals a major rapprochement since Italy signed a deal with its former colony last year pledging five billion dollars (3.5 billion euros) over the next 25 years as compensation for colonising the north African country from 1911 to 1947.
Kadhafi, the Arab world's longest serving leader who has been in power since 1969, will also attend next month's Group of Eight summit in Italy in his capacity as rotating president of the African Union.
African tribal dignitaries bestowed the title of "king of kings" on Kadhafi in September 2008.
He has returned to the international fold since abandoning ambitions to build weapons of mass destruction in 2003.
Africa's third largest oil producer after Nigeria and Angola but with a far smaller population, Libya has also become a major investor in the Italian economy.
Rome has stepped up its relations with Tripoli in recent years in a bid to rein in a massive influx of clandestine migrants, many of whom come by boat from Libya across the Mediterranean.
Kadhafi's visit comes amid criticism over Italy's decision to return to Libya some 500 would-be immigrants caught in international waters under a new policy introduced last month.
The humanitarian group Amnesty International on Tuesday slammed Tripoli's treatment of African migrants.
Calling on Italian leaders to insist on human rights "guarantees" from Tripoli, the London-based group denounced "serious overcrowding" in a detention centre in northwestern Libya.
During a visit to the centre, Amnesty heard "worrying reports of discriminatory and degrading treatment and maltreatment of migrants from sub-Saharan African countries by Libyan citizens and Libyan police forces," it said.
Kadhafi is to meet Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, President Giorgio Napolitano and both parliamentary speakers during his visit.
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Copyright AFP 2009.
