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Tripoli, 17 October:
The Italian Prime Minister, Mario Monti, phoned Libyan Prime Minister-elect Ali Zeidan yesterday, Tuesday, to congratulate him on being elected to . . .[restrict]the post by the General National Congress. Monti stressed that Italy was fully confident in the future of Libya. The personality of the new prime minister-elect and his history of opposition to the previous regime, he said, demonstrated that Zeidan would to be able to form a broad coalition government, re-establish security and start rebuilding the country.
Italy, together with the European Union and the United Nations, would remain close to Libya, he added. It would help in what way it could in restoring security . It was also committed to Libya’s reconstruction and economic diversification, all the more so given the historic links between the two countries.
On Monday, Italian Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi di Sant’Agata spoke by phone with the Prime Minister-elect, congratulating him for the mandate he had been given by Congress and adding he hoped to meet him soon.
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