(Adnkronos) – Italy denied permission to “some United States bombers” to land at Sigonella airbase in eastern Sicily before flying to the Middle East because the US did not seek authorisation and Italy’s military chiefs were not consulted as required under a bilateral treaty on the use of the country’s bases, Corriere della Sera daily reported on on Tuesday.
Defence minister Guido Crosetto’s refusal ‘several evening ago’ came after he received a call from chief of defence staff Luciano Portolano, the paper reported. Portolano was informed by the Italian airforce chief of staff of the US bombers’ plan to land at Sigonella when the planes were already airborne, according to Corriere della Sera.
Portolano informed the US military command that the bombers could not touch down at Sigonella because they were not authorised to do so and because there had been no prior consultations with Italy, Corriere said.
When the joint US-Israel war on Iran war began with military strikes on the country in late February, premier Giorgia Meloni and Crosetto said the US could keep using airbases in Italy for normal operations, in accordance with the bilateral treaty, but any use of the bases for military missions would need to be approved by parliament.
Italy’s centre-left opposition has urged the government to block the US use of bases in Italy to avoid involvement in the escalating Mideast conflict.
Crosetto’s refusal to allow the US bombers to land at Sigonella looks set to impact US-Italy relations, the paper reported.
The case recalls a bilateral standoff in 1985 when Italy’s then-premier Bettino Craxi refused to hand over several Palestinian terrorist suspects to the government of US president Ronald Reagan who were aboard a plane forced by US military jets to land at Sigonella. Craxi rejected Reagan’s request to extradite the suspects, insisting that Italy should try them as they had earlier hijacked an Italian cruiseship, the Achille Lauro.
