President Sergio Mattarella is
concerned about the escalation in Syria after a suspected
chemical attack by the Assad regime, Senate autonomies group
chief Juliane Unterberger told reporters after
government-formation consultations Thursday.
"We cannot report the content of our talks with President
Mattarella, but it doesn't take much imagination to understand
how concerned he is for this escalation and how the political
forces in Italy are reacting," she said.
Matteo Salvini of the rightwing populist League on Wednesday
called on Premier Paolo Gentiloni to take a "clear position for
Italy against all further and disastrous military intervention
in Syria.
"I would not like that economic motives, power demands or the
alleged use, never proven, of chemical weapons never found in
the past should unleash a conflict that may become extremely
dangerous".
He said Italy must "oppose missile raids and bombing", which
have been announced by US President Donald Trump.
Gentiloni responded by saying that the use of chemical
weapons by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad "cannot be
tolerated".
However, "over and above the response to crimes we first of
all need to work for peace," he added.
Gentiloni was commenting on a suspected chemical attack on
rebel-held Douma in the besieged Eastern Ghouta region.
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