Italian prime minister asks Qathafi to mediate with Iraq

The Italian prime minister Selvio Berloskony announced yesterday that he had asked Libya's Leader of the Revolution Colonel Muammar al Qathafi to mediate with Iraq in the context of efforts aiming to spare a military attack against Baghdad, adding that he is still waiting for the answer from the Libyan leader.

The Italian prime minister also said he finds out the possibility of meeting with the Iraqi prime minister Tareq Aziz during his visit to Rome next week when Aziz is to meet with Pope John Paul II. He commented "I am thinking.. of the value of meeting him in an attempt to hold a clear discussion on that situation with a person about whom it is stated that he is.. a man of reason."