Italy's prime minister defied harsh criticism Sunday, flying to Libya just a week after its leader and people gave a warm welcome to a man just released from prison after a deadly 1988 airline bombing.
Silvio Berlusconi was the first Western leader to come to Tripoli since Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, the Libyan man found guilty in the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, was released from prison in Scotland. Al-Megrahi was greeted on his return home by Libyan leader Moammar Ghadafi, along with cheering crowds at the airport.
Italian officials said his trip to celebrate a Libyan-Italian agreement to build a new highway was planned well before al-Megrahi's contentious release last week.
Bending to criticism, Berlusconi has dropped plans to stay on until Tuesday, when Libya plans a gala party to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the revolution that brought Ghadafi to power.
A former Libyan secret service agent, al-Megrahi was the only person convicted for the bombing of Pan Am flight 103, which killed 270 people, most of them Americans. Libyans consider him innocent but have paid compensation for the bombing.
Scottish officials said they freed al-Megrahi because he has terminal prostate cancer, but his release angered relatives of those killed in the bombing and triggered considerable diplomatic criticism.
Ignoring that, on Sunday, Berlusconi and Ghadafi laid a symbolic paving stone for a $5 billion trans-Libya highway to be built by Italy. The highway, linking Tunisia to Egypt across about 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) of desert, is considered financial compensation for Italian colonialism in the North African country before World War II. The agreement also calls for Libya to halt the massive flow of illegal African migrants sailing from Libya to Italy and gives Italian firms access to Libyan oil fields.
"This agreement is very positive all the way," Berlusconi told reporters in Tuweisha, about 20 miles (30 kilometers) south of Tripoli, where he and Ghadafi drove their limousine over the first 100 yards (90 meters) of the highway.
Ghadafi declined to talk to reporters.
Libyan Transport Minister, Mohammed Zidane said the Italian leader's visit shouldn't be overshadowed by the turmoil over the reception given to al-Megrahi.
"These are two completely separate things," Zidane told the Associated Press. "We are deeply upset about the way people have reacted to our welcome of Mr. Megrahi," he said. "He was a political prisoner, so of course we are happy he was released."
