While main mainstream Italian media consider the attack on the Italian consulate earlier this month an attack ‘directed against Italy as a country,’ as reported by Ansa, the leading wire service in Italy, and the private-owned Italian Il Giornale, relations between the two Mediterranean nations appear unscathed. Bilateral relationships between the two countries have so far been marked as a longstanding friendship, based on international cooperation for development in rural areas like Fayoum and Upper Egypt and cultural exchange opportunities in the fields of the higher education and culture par excellence. In an interview with Al Jazeera the day following the attack, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said: “I am proud of my friendship with [El Sisi] and I will support him in the direction of peace because the Mediterranean without Egypt will be absolutely a place without peace.” Mainstream international and national Italian media had immediately reported that Da’esh, otherwise known as the Islamic State, were responsible for the attack which left one dead, nine injured and resulted in major losses for the consulate. Meanwhile, civilians have been warned to keep far from what have been defined ‘legitimate targets,’…
What the Italian Consulate Bombing Tells Us About the Latest Terrorism Tactics
July 27, 2015
