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There was a long applause in memory of Attanasio and Iacovacci before Di Maio’s Chamber speech began.
“He asked Pam and the UN to open an investigation” “We have formally asked the WFP (World Food Program) and the UN to open an investigation to clarify what happened, the reasons behind the security device used and who was responsible for these decisions. He also explained that we expect clear and complete answers as as soon as possible ”, announced the chancellor.
The phone call with the Congolese minister “I had a telephone conversation with the Congolese Foreign Minister on the same day of the incident,” he explained. “I immediately emphasized the need to shed all the light on the dynamics and responsibilities of the attack. The Kinshasa authorities have fully ensured collaboration with The Italian judiciary The Congolese president, who visited the widow of our ambassador, condemned the attack “with the greatest firmness”.
Reconstruction Di Maio then reconstructed the attack: “On the morning of February 22, between 10 and 11 local time, Pam’s convoy was attacked by men with small arms, probably near Kibumba, about 25 km from Goma. Based in the first reconstructions, which must be subjected to scrutiny by investigators, the first car of the Pam convoy, in which the victims were traveling, would have been shot ”.
The attack “The convoy – he continued – was attacked at 10:15 am. The group, made up of 6 elements, would have forced the vehicles to stop by placing obstacles on the road and firing some bursts of small arms into the air. The Governor of North-Kivu has confirmed that the six assailants, after firing into the air and blocking the convoy, ordered the passengers to get out of the vehicles. The sound of gunfire alerted the soldiers of the Congolese Armed Forces and the Virunga park rangers who, less than a kilometer away, headed to the scene of the incident. The governor added that in order to force their victims to leave the road and enter the mountains, the attackers killed the PMA driver ”.
Victims murdered in the forest “The attackers were taking the rest of the members into the forest. Not far from the scene of the event there was a patrol of rangers from the Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation, stationed in the nearby Virunga Park, and a unit of the ‘Army, who would have tried recover the members of the convoy – he said again – In the immediately following phases, when the patrol of park rangers ordered the assailants to lower their weapons, the latter opened fire on the assassinated carabinieri military and against the Italian ambassador , seriously injuring him. Later, the park rangers patrol and the Army Unit evacuated the Italian ambassador to the Monusco hospital in Goma, where he died of his injuries in the attack. In this regard, it is also specified that the leader of the convoy had negotiated with attackers to move away from the area and bring the wounded to a safe zone.
Attanasio and Iacovacci entrusted to the UN protocol “Unlike what some press reports reported, I would like to clarify that the embassy in Kinshasa is equipped with two armored cars, with which the Ambassador moved around the city and for missions in the country, always accompanied by at least one carabiniere I would also like to clarify that Kinshasa and Goma are about 2,500 km apart, so the ambassador and the carabiniere entrusted themselves to the United Nations protocol, which took charge of them from Kinshasa, in a plane of the UN Monusco mission , for the trip to Goma. As Head of Mission, Ambassador Luca Attanasio had full powers to decide how and where to move within the country. The mission was carried out at the invitation of the United Nations. The car was carried out within the organizational framework developed by the World Food Program “. “For this reason I immediately requested the WFP in Rome and the United Nations, directly involving Secretary General Guterres, to provide a detailed report on the attack on the WFP convoy.”
“Ros sent to Goma” “The dynamics of the ambush is also being investigated by the Public Ministry of Rome – he added -. A team of our Carabinieri del Ros, delegated by the Public Ministry, has already gone to Goma for a first investigative mission, which others will follow.”
“To our fallen we owe the truth” Di Maio then explained that “the truth we owe first and foremost to our fallen. But the best way to honor their memory is also to continue to strengthen our political attention to the African continent, in which Luca firmly believed, with passion and dedication. He had dedicated great part of his diplomatic career in Africa, and also his personal commitment to support the weakest, with voluntary activities promoted through the NGO Mama Sofia founded in Kinshasa by his wife Zakia ”.
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