Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi arrived in Libya on Sunday to commemorate the first anniversary of a friendship pact that ended decades of discord despite calls at home to scrap the visit, dpa reported. Berlusconi was accompanied by a delegation headed by Lamberto Dini, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of Italian Senate, the Libyan news agency JANA reported. Under a friendship agreement signed in August 2008, the Italian government pledged to invest some 5 billion dollars in Libya over the next 25 years as compensation colonial-era damages. Bilateral relations between the two countries have long been hobbled by Libyan resentment over the Italian colonial past. Ruled from Rome since 1911, Libya became independent in 1951. Berlusconi went ahead with his trip to Libya despite international protests, particularly from the US and Britain, over the hero's welcome Tripoli staged for the freed Lockerbie bomber Abdel Basset al-Megrahi. The friendship agreement also contains a controversial pledge by Libya to help curb illegal immigration to Italy by ensuring that its shores are not used as a departure point for migrants seeking to cross the Mediterranean. Meanwhile both countries are reaping trade benefits. Italy is one of Libya's main trade partners and Libya is the biggest provider of crude oil to Italy. -- SPA
