Italy does not rule out military intervention in Iraq

Italy’s Foreign Minister Federica Mogherini has said she does not rule out the possibility of her country joining an international military intervention in Iraq.

Al-Alam Online news website quoted Mogherini as saying: “We are assessing various possibilities [for working out Iraq’s problems], including those that are not limited to the foreign ministry but include the defence ministry as well.”

The minister explained that she spoke on the telephone with Kurdistan’s President Massoud Barzani, adding that, “he stressed the need for our participation, saying that in order to help the civilians we need to mobilise the international community.”

The Italian foreign ministry had earlier expressed serious concerns over the harassment and reprisals against Iraq’s Christians, as well as voiced its support for President Barack Obama’s decision to launch air strikes against the Islamic State sites in northern Iraq.