A former Italian PM claimed France shot down a passenger jet over the Mediterranean in 1980 in a failed assassinate bid on Muammar Gaddafi.
ROME – A former Italian premier, in an interview published on Saturday, contended that a French air force missile accidentally brought down a passenger jet over the Mediterranean Sea in 1980 in a failed bid to assassinate Libya’s then leader Moammar Gadhafi.
What caused the crash is one of modern Italy’s most enduring mysteries. Some say a bomb exploded aboard the Itavia jetliner on a flight from Bologna to Sicily, while others say examination of the wreckage, pulled up from the seafloor years later, indicate it was hit by a missile. NATO planned to “simulate an exercise, with many planes in action, during which a missile was supposed to be fired” with Gadhafi as the target, Amato said.
According to Amato, a missile was allegedly fired by a French fighter jet that had taken off from an aircraft carrier, possibly off Corsica’s southern coast. Amato, who is 85, said that in 2000, when he was premier, he wrote to the then presidents of the United States and France, Bill Clinton and Jacques Chirac, respectively, to press them to shed light on what happened. But ultimately, those entreaties yielded “total silence,” Amato said.
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Italian ex-premier says French missile downed an airliner in 1980 by accident in bid to kill GadhafiA former Italian premier is contending that a French air force missile brought down a passenger jet over the Mediterranean Sea in 1980 and is appealing to France's president to respond.
Read more »
Italian ex-premier says French missile downed an airliner in 1980 by accident in bid to kill GadhafiA former Italian premier is contending that a French air force missile brought down a passenger jet over the Mediterranean Sea in 1980 and is appealing to France's president to respond.
Read more »
Italian ex-premier says French missile downed an airliner in 1980 by accident in bid to kill GadhafiA former Italian premier is contending that a French air force missile brought down a passenger jet over the Mediterranean Sea in 1980 and is appealing to France's president to respond
Read more »
Italian ex-premier says French missile downed an airliner in 1980 by accident in bid to kill GadhafiA former Italian premier is contending that a French air force missile brought down a passenger jet over the Mediterranean Sea in 1980 and is appealing to France's president to respond.
Read more »
Italian ex-premier says French missile downed an airliner in 1980 by accident in bid to kill GadhafiA former Italian premier is contending that a French air force missile brought down a passenger jet over the Mediterranean Sea in 1980 and is appealing to France’s president to respond. The c…
Read more »
Italian ex-premier says French missile downed an airliner in 1980 by accident in bid to kill GadhafiA former Italian premier, in an interview published on Saturday, contended that a French air force missile accidentally brought down a passenger jet over the Mediterranean Sea in 1980 in a failed bid to assassinate Libya’s then leader Moammar Gadhafi.
Read more »