An Italian diplomatic official has said that Khalifa Haftar's shelling near Italy's embassy in Tripoli was out of his "arrogance and weakness at the same time".
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs in Italy, Maria Sirini said Friday that some of Haftar's loyalists had been showing despair, adding that when he was on the advance and now when he is facing hurdles, Italy still believes there is no military solution to the Libyan conflict.
She said Italy's only agenda in Libya is reaching a cessation of hostilities and resuming Geneva talks to reach a solution away from the country's fragmentation and partition.
"Operation IRINI that aims to monitor arms embargo in Libya will not be aimed to block one party over the other, it will work under the oversight of Italian leadership and will be very integrated, transparent and balanced in its work. It won't be a naval mission only, but also air surveillance missions to monitor movements on the land." She said about the European Union's new naval mission off Libya's coast.
She also said the situation on the ground was aggravating due to the emergency situation amid COVID-19 outbreak and amid the continuing blockade on oil production and exports.
Meanwhile, another diplomat in Italy had slammed Haftar's shelling near his country's embassy in Tripoli and the residence of ambassador Giuseppe Buccino, saying it want's random as "Italy is targeted by Haftar's militias", saying Haftar is becoming more desperate and the attacks are evidence for his losses on the ground.
Haftar's attack on Zawiyet Al-Dahmani newr Italian ambassador's residence and Turkish embassy in Tripoli killed three people, including two security personnel.