Rome: Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi is a
legitimate target if he is inside a military installation,
Italian Defence Minister Ignazio La Russa said in an interview
published on Wednesday.
With Italian newspapers speculating on whether the Libyan
leader is dead or alive since he has not been seen for days,
La Russa said, "Military targets are not identified and hit
based on who might or might not be inside."
"If, for example, it`s a place from which orders are
being issued to strike against civilians then a raid is
legitimate," he told Il Messaggero daily.
Asked about Gaddafi`s fate, La Russa said he had no
specific news adding: "This leads one to assume that there
shouldn`t be anything new."
Italy joined in NATO-led air strikes in Libya at the end
of April despite opposition from the Northern League party, a
junior coalition partner in Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi`s
government.
PTI
