Italian Senate approves arming Peshmerga

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) The Italian parliament on Wednesday approved the shipment of arms to Iraqi Kurds fighting ISIL terrorists.

Officials said the arms could be delivered early in the next few days after obtaining the necessary international permissions.

The Italian Senate and lower chamber defense and foreign committees voted in favor of arming the Kurds, who have been fighting fierce clashes against the ISIL groups with the help of U.S. airstrikes in the northern part of Iraq.

Italian Defense Minister Roberta Pinotti briefed a joint session of the committees over the government’s plan. She said Italy was ready to support the Kurds with “small automatic weapons and relative ammunition.”

The organization of transfers of weapons via air and sea was “already in progress and may be finalized in the next few days,” Pinotti said.

She also added her country was willing, in agreement with the international community, to carry weapons into Iraq from other countries.

Italian Foreign Minister Federica Mogherini in her address to the committees called it a “political and especially moral duty” to respond to “a humanitarian tragedy,” although the “necessary” military aid “hardly represents a long-term solution to this crisis.”

Baghdad’s approval of any such aid must be requested, she also added. /End/