Four Italians have been kidnapped
in Libya, the foreign ministry said Monday morning.
The four were kidnapped near an Eni oil and gas company
complex in the city of Mellitah in western Libya, the ministry
said in a statement.
It added that the four were workers for the Bonatti
construction company that specializes in oilfield work.
Libyan sources said the four were kidnapped as they
returned Sunday from Tunisia.
The sources said that local security officials had not yet
identified the kidnappers.
The Greenstream underwater pipeline project begins near
Mellitah and runs underwater to the Sicilian city of Gela.
Greenstream is said to be the largest pipeline running
under the Mediterranean, stretching some 520 kilometres at a
depth of more than 1,100 meters.
Italy closed its embassy in Libya on February 15, and urged
Italians to leave the North African country because of risks to
foreigners there, the ministry statement said.
Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni said the crisis unit of
his department was working urgently on the case but it was
difficult to speculate on who was behind the kidnappings.
Rome's prosecutors and investigators from the Carabinieri
anti-terrorism ROS unit said they were investigating the
kidnappings as being carried out for the purpose of terrorism.
Built by Italian oil groups Eni and Agip in partnership
with Libya's state oil company NOC, Greenstream carries some 10
billion cubic meters of gas a year from Mellitah to Gela and
then on into southern Europe.
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