By Libya Herald staff.
Tripoli, 18 March 2015:
A tripartite summit in Rome between the Italian, Egyptian and Algerian foreign . . .[restrict]ministers to discuss Libya has been cancelled.
The meeting was scrapped after Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri pulled out. The Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement Shukri had an urgent commitment which meant he had to remain in Cairo.
At present there do not seem to be any plans to reconvene the summit at a later date.
Speaking in the Italian parliament today, Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni said Italy was no longer able to deal with the number of migrants landing on its shores, principally from Libya. He said the European Union was working to make sure more was done so that migrants were not left to their fate.
Gentiloni also said Italy was concerned by increasing extremism in the country saying there was a real risk Islamic State would grow in strength as other Islamist and Jihadi groups flocked to its banners.
The Italian Foreign Minister said the international community had made mistakes in the aftermath of the toppling of the previous regime. He said being in the front line in the fight against terrorism was how “a civilised country responds to barbarism”.
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