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Dragons sovereign over vaccines, the paw of the Paw, the Farnesina said no to the doubling of the supply for Attanasio

3 years ago babelfish

Dragons sovereign over vaccines, the paw of the Paw, the Farnesina said no to the doubling of the supply for Attanasio

Facts, names, numbers, curiosities and controversies. The tweets of Michele Arnese, director of Start not only on Draghi and Attanasio

ATTANASIO, THE CONGO AND THE FARNESINA

NOTE FROM THE FARNESINA ON THE QUESTION

SOVEREIGN DRAGONS ON VACCINES

INTONED WHISPS

DRAGONS & LADIES

THE PAW OF THE PAW

QUISQUILIE & PINZILLACCHERE

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EXTRACT FROM THE ARTICLE DE LA STAMPA SU ATTANASIO:

The diplomat Attanasio arrived in Kinshasa in 2017. A year later, in 2018, he sent a letter to the Farnesina, in Rome, to formally request that the escort of two carabinieri available to him be doubled. Evidently, in the course of the missions he had completed over the course of twelve months, he had warned that it would be more prudent and safer to operate with a more substantial personal defense.
Following the request received, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent, as usual, its inspector to check the situation. Unfortunately, the visit and on-site verification did not lead to a positive outcome. So much so that Attanasio continued to be protected by only two soldiers. To reinforce his request, in truth, there was also the fact that before his arrival, the Italian ambassador in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, had an escort of four people. Why were they then reduced to two? And on the basis of what elements was a favorable opinion not expressed to Luca Attanasio's question? The Farnesina, contacted by La Stampa in the evening, did not respond.

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NOTE FROM THE FARNESINA

Two state officials, the Ambassador of Italy in Kinshasa Luca Attanasio and the Carabiniere Vittorio Iacovacci, lost their lives on February 22 near Goma, in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, about 2,500 kilometers from the capital. This area had been classified as high risk by the Farnesina also on the basis of the assessments of Ambassador Attanasio, who, like all the Heads of Mission, had full power to decide independently where and how to move within the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Articles have appeared in some newspapers today on alleged omissions by the Farnesina, insinuating doubts about the adequacy of the security measures put in place to protect Ambassador Attanasio.

In full compliance with the prerogatives of the Public Prosecutor's Office at the Court of Rome which is carrying out investigations into what happened, and reserving additions following the internal investigations still in progress, the available elements are provided.

With regard to the measures in force at the time of the incident, they fell under the responsibility of the World Food Program (WFP), which had organized the mission in the Goma region and which had indicated in its communiqué dated 22 February that the route "had been authorized without escort armed ". On 24 February, finding the formal request in this sense presented on behalf of the Italian Government by our Permanent Representations to the United Nations in New York and Rome, the UN Security Department formally announced that it had launched an investigation – together to WFP and the MONUSCO Mission – on the tragic events of 22 February and that this investigation should end on 9 March next, ensuring that the results will be shared with the Italian authorities.

It is specified that in all foreign contexts where our employees carry out missions organized by the United Nations or other international organizations, the responsibility for security lies with the latter. In fact, WFP declared that the mission in the Goma area, the place where Ambassador Attanasio and Carabiniere Iacovacci had arrived on board a United Nations plane, was carried out on vehicles of the World Food Program. The WFP has formally expressed its willingness to provide assistance to the Italian investigative bodies.

As for Kinshasa, which – it is reiterated – is about 2,500 kilometers from Goma, the Italian Embassy has two armored vehicles, one of which was being replaced with a new armored vehicle. Therefore, the news reported in recent days that the Embassy does not have armored cars does not correspond to the truth. With regard to the carabinieri, a contingent of 4 carabinieri was operating in the headquarters: two were assigned to the protection of Amb. Attanasio (including the military Iacovacci) and two are in charge of the security and surveillance of the Embassy.

With regard to the request to strengthen the contingent of carabinieri assigned to the protection of Ambassador Attanasio, the latter requested it in November 2018 due to the imminent presidential and national elections, scheduled for December 30 of the same year, which were held in a climate of great political and social tensions. This reinforcement was actually arranged for the required period.

The Farnesina hopes that the information provided – moreover already illustrated by Minister Di Maio in his report to Parliament on 24 February – will help focus attention on the search for those responsible for the tragic affair. To this end, the Farnesina confirms that it has requested the full cooperation of the Kinshasa authorities and that it is providing every assistance to the Italian investigative bodies, including by sending a diplomatic official to the DRC in a few days to support the staff present at the Embassy.

This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/draghi-vaccini-attanasio/ on Fri, 26 Feb 2021 07:40:05 +0000.