Perhaps Bush has not been informed about Syria

The speech by senator Giulio Andreotti in the debate held on 9 March 2005 in Palazzo Madama, after the statement by the President of the Council Silvio Berlusconi on the events that led to the freeing of the journalist Giuliana Sgrena and the death of officer Nicola Calipari

Giulio Andreotti

Giuliana Sgrena arriving at Ciampino airport in Rome, 5 March 2005

Mister President, I take the floor with discomfort because in moments like these one is more induced to silence and meditation. Nevertheless, it’s necessary that our small senatorial Group for the Autonomies not evade its task, that it be vitiated by the factional stances that unfortunately often – but not today – demean our work.
The latest involvement of Italians in the dark chronicle of Iraq could not, given the role played by American soldiers, but stir up debate and speculation well beyond the specific case. I shall not dwell on that in this speech, not least because, leaving aside our history, the Americans are with us in an Alliance that at the beginnings was contested, but that since 1976 has gained the consensus of all, or almost all, the political groupings. There is no need, therefore, to repeat that we are friends.
Instead I would like to draw the attention of the President of the Council to two problems, with a small premise: the Italian/American inquiry into the tragic exchange of fire is a wise and timely solution, but also leads one to reflect on the abnormality of the situation there. In fact, despite the existence of a government, if also interim, and after the elections, the occupying forces are to conduct the investigation, without any involvement of the Iraqis.
I did not share in past weeks the positions of those who demanded Italy’s immediate withdrawal and, while the 30 June date fixed by the law of approved expenses for this mission remains, we have the government’s pledge to encourage a thorough debate in good time on all Italian military presence beyond its frontiers. It will be in that moment that we go deeper into the nature of our intervention in Iraq, something that occurred on the basis of a threat that later turned to be groundless.
But let me now bring up another problem. In recent days the international spotlight has focused on Lebanon. Last night Italian television broadcast a passage from a speech by President Bush in which he invited Syria to leave Lebanon immediately, citing UN resolutions.

There has been much talk in these days about the Lebanon, but nobody is speaking of the hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees packed into the Lebanon itself and ill-regarded by the Lebanese population. What will happen to these poor wretches if Syria does indeed withdraw suddenly? Just as a ray of hope is dawning between Palestinians and Israelis we need to take great care not to be overhasty

Leaving aside the fact that for fifty years and more UN resolutions for the area have been ignored, we cannot forget that an unwise initiative by the American roving ambassador Habib led to a fragile agreement between Lebanon and Israel that cost the life of poor Lebanese president Gemayel. But there is more. There has been much talk in these days about Lebanon, but nobody is speaking of the hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees packed into Lebanon itself and ill-regarded by the Lebanese population. What will happen to these poor wretches if Syria does indeed withdraw suddenly? Just as the light of hope is dawning between Palestinians and Israelis we need to take great care not to be overhasty.
I well remember the position Assad senior took at the time of the Madrid Conference. It is right – he said – to project bilateral agreements by Israel with Jordan, Syria itself, the Lebanon and the Palestinians, but the conclusion must be concurrent; we are not willing – he said – to end up like the Horatii and Curiatii.
A country like Italy, that has always been very politically concerned with the Middle East, must help everybody to avoid the wrong moves. We have always appreciated, for example, Syria’s silence on the occupation of its Golan province. You who can do so, honorable President of the Council, bring that to the attention of President Bush. Perhaps they never informed him of it.
But I must, finally, make a comment in the margin. I don’t know whether it’s true that ransom was paid to save this and other human lives. I realize that it is painful to give money to criminals and perhaps also risk encouraging them, but the right to life in any case prevails.
On this occasion it was recalled that during Aldo Moro’s abduction, the refusal to deal with the Red Brigades, who wanted, by that means, to become a political agent and take over representation of the leftist proletariat from the Communist Party was steadfast. It is, however, true that with full consent - indeed with our heartfelt thankfulness – an attempt to ransom him was made on behalf of the Holy Father Paul VI. Unfortunately, their go-between turned out to be a bungler if not a charlatan. It was necessary for me to make use of the occasion here this evening to make that clear.