The Italian Ambassador to Algeria, Giovanni Pugliese said that Rome and Algiers share common views on a number of issues, including on Libya.
Pugliese commented on the statements made by Algerian President, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, in an interview with the Al Jazeera news channel, that “Tripoli was a red line,” and that Algeria would not allow mercenaries to occupy the capital.
According to the Italian Ambassador, “to some extent, we also reject Tripoli as the capital of mercenaries. Libya is occupied by foreign mercenaries and must return to the hands of the Libyans with a gradual decline of the foreign presence.” He pointed out that last month, a telephone conversation between Prime Minister Mario Draghi, and President Tebboune took place, where they discussed Libya, and other regional crises.
“A few weeks later, there was a phone call between the Minister of Foreign Affairs Luigi Di Maio, and his Algerian counterpart, Sabri Boukadoum, who again spoke about Libya and the Middle East,” he added.
Pugliese said that during Libyan Prime Minister, Abdel-Hamid Dbaiba’s visit to Algeria, the issue of trade and investments with Algiers was discussed. He added that they “also talked about renewable energy, hence the issues of technological innovation.”
The Italian Ambassador added: “Libya and Algeria share various topics of common interest, such as the security of their long land border, and the fight against terrorism, but there are also economic files that Italy can enter as well.”