Mattarella in Doha, on Libya will ask for moderation

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"Moderation". This will be the key word of Sergio Mattarella's visit to Qatar, a fundamental country in the Gulf, the current only communication channel between the United States and Iran and the protagonist of the Libyan crisis in which he stands out, together with Turkey, for full support for the government of Tripoli by Fayez al Sarraj. The President of the Republic will land in Doha already tomorrow in a mission that perfectly intersects with the closure of the Berlin Conference and which will inevitably have the war in Libya as the main dish of the discussions.

The excellent bilateral relations between Italy and Qatar will allow the head of state a certain ease of dialogue in the meetings with Emir Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, leading a small country but increasingly at the center of large geopolitical scenarios, ranging from the Gulf to the Mediterranean. However, Qatar remains a great financier of all that radical Islamist strand linked to the Muslim Brotherhood (also expanding in Europe through the action of the Qatar Charity).

After the 2017 Gulf crisis, following which Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates isolated Qatar, the regime strengthened its alliance with Ankara. But Qatar is also the country that hosts the largest American base in the area. Furthermore, as a demonstration of his activism in the region, it should be noted that Emir Tamimbin Hamad al-Thani was the first to visit Iran on January 12, after the US attack on the Iranian general Soleimani, asking for moderation and working on relaxation.

President Mattarella will therefore have the opportunity to spend himself in Doha to fuel a diplomatic solution in Libya that will consolidate the permanent ceasefire and curb external interference in the Mediterranean country. To underpin this political "moral suasion" there are the excellent economic relations between Rome and Doha: Qatar (second country in the world by GDP per capita which will not coincidentally host the 2022 football world cup), is also the fourth largest producer of gas and home to the powerful pan-Arab broadcaster Al-Jazeera. The exchange between Rome and Doha in 2017 was 2.35 billion euros.

During the visit to Doha, the president will find the managing directors of the most important Italian companies, such as Eni, Fincantieri, and Leonardo. From Doha Mattarella will fly directly to Jerusalem for an international event planned for some time: the celebrations of the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Ceremony attended by over forty heads of state and government including presidents Vladimir Putin, Emmanuel Macron and Frank-Walter Steinmeier. It will be an occasion to renew a universal appeal for the fight against anti-Semitism and discrimination. A theme very dear to the president who only a year ago said very clearly that Auschwitz "remains a symbol of absolute evil that houses hidden like a deadly virus".