More than 40 years after the mysterious crash of an Italian passenger plane that caused 81 deaths, the case is back in the headlines. Former Italian Prime Minister Giuliano Amato blamed France in the daily newspaper La Repubblica (Saturday edition) and demanded an apology.
Amato argued that the plane was hit by a misguided French missile. The real plan was to kill then-Libyan ruler Muammar al-Gaddafi aboard a fighter jet.
The court case did not provide any clarification
The Itavia airline plane crashed in the Mediterranean on June 27, 1980, near the small Italian island of Ustica. None of the 81 people aboard the DC9 survived. To this day it is not clear what really happened. There have already been several legal proceedings that have not provided any clarification.
Amato, now 85, was involved in the case within the government in the mid-1980s, before becoming Prime Minister in 1992/93 and 2000/01. Amato asked current President Emmanuel Macron to apologize on behalf of France. “Continued silence doesn’t seem like a solution to me.”
France: All information passed on
The French Foreign Ministry said France provided existing information whenever it was questioned about the tragedy. It is clear that we remain prepared to work together on this topic.
Italy’s current right-wing government noted Amato’s comments with interest. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni spoke of “important statements that deserve attention”. At the same time, she made it clear that these were Amato’s “personal conclusions” and not the views of his government. His deputy, Matteo Salvini, asked Paris to comment.