FAO: Gheddafi entourage paralyses Rome
Tuesday, November 17th, 2009
16 November 2009 - Arrival of H.E. Muammar El-Gheddafi, Libyan president and currently holding the Presidency of the African Union, on the occasion of the World Summit on Food Security 16-18 November 2009, FAO Headquarters. (©FAO/Alessia Pierdomenico)
Striking ground crews at Fiumicino airport added to the chaos yesterday giving national carrier Alitalia no alternative but to cancel 40 flights and leave thousands of passengers stranded.
Mayor of Rome Gianni Alemanno apologised to locals yesterday after admitting the city was stretched to breaking point by “20 foreign delegations, some of them particularly numerous like (Libyan president) Gheddafi’s, that moved about the city” causing traffic disruption in key bottlenecks like the San Giovanni district, the Lungotevere north-south through road and the hotel-dense Via Veneto area.
Amongst the dozens of officials, security guards and minders, the Libyan leader has been grabbing the headlines for his penchant for hiring a harem of ‘veline’ (showgirl-type hostesses) each time he visits the Italian capital. Yesterday some 200 models (between the ages of 18 and 35) were conveyed by coach from the Via Veneto area to the Libyan ambassador’s residence on the Via Cassia, read verses of the Koran and then selected to accompany the visiting leader during his attendance at the FAO Summit.
More disruption is expected both today and tomorrow with several protest marches scheduled to coincide with the three-day summit running from 16 to 18 November.
Meanwhile, at Fiumicino airport yesterday travellers got more time in the airport shopping precincts than they bargained for as ground crews called a strike over working hours. National carrier Alitalia-CAI’s management have been pushing to increase the working week by one hour (raising it to 38.5 hours), a move rigorously opposed by trade unions.
Further disruption is on the cards on Wednesday 25 November when air traffic control personnel go out on a four-hour strike.
