[LINK] "Qaddafi Urges Conversion to Mark Italian ‘Friendship’ Treaty"

[rfmcdonald]

The Italy-Libya relationship, as Bloomberg observes, combines bizarre stunts with economically lucrative and mutually profitable exchanges. The --shall we say--personalities of Qaddafi and Berlusconi contribute a lot to this, of course.

Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi urged hundreds of young women in Rome to convert to Islam as he marked the second anniversary of a “friendship” treaty with Italy that is paying dividends for Italian companies including Eni SpA and Finmeccanica SpA.

Before seeing Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, Qaddafi met 200 women today who were paid to attend and listen to Qaddafi’s lecture on Islam. He told 500 women last night that Islam should become the religion of all of Europe, triggering criticism from both Berlusconi allies and opponents.

Qaddafi’s visit was an “embarrassment,” said Carmelo Briguglio, a lawmaker with the Future and Freedom for Italy party, a former Berlusconi ally. Members of the opposition Italy Values party protested outside the site where Berlusconi met with the Libyan leader in a Bedouin tent erected for the visit.

Qaddafi was due to entertain his Italian hosts with an equestrian show featuring 30 berber horses flown to Rome with their riders for the event.

Behind the theatrics, there was business as to be done. The two year-old treaty, which served as Italy’s apology for 30- years of colonial rule, intensified commercial ties between the two countries. The agreement included a pledge by the Italian government to spend 5 billion euros ($6.3 billion) to build a highway across Libya and has led to contracts for Italian companies and more Libyan investment in Italy.

[. . .]

Italy is Libya’s biggest trading partner and commercial ties between have intensified since Qaddafi pledged to steer 90 percent of his business to Italy when he signed the treaty. Berlusconi has emerged as the Libyan leader’s closest European ally, while his political rivals say he’s ignoring Qaddafi’s human rights record and that Libya is gaining too big a footprint in the Italian economy.

[. . .]

Berlusconi’s political opponents have railed against the premier for his business links with Qaddafi. Berlusconi’s Fininvest SpA holding company has a minority stake in a Paris- based film company owned by Ben Ammar called Quinta Communications. A unit of the Libyan Investment Authority also has a minority stake.