Italy’s NGOvernement

A
political storm has hit Italy after the beheading of Adjmal Nashkbandi, Daniele
Mastrogiacomo’s interpreter, on Sunday afternoon, twenty-four hours before
ultimatum set by the Talibans. Both the Italian and the Afghan governments are
in serious embarrassment, as Prime Minister Prodi and President Hamid Karzai
are being accused of using a double standard in the negotiation for the liberation
of the hostages, doing everything they could for Italian journalist Daniele
Mastrogiacomo and practically nothing for his driver and interpreter, whose
execution was displayed yesterday on national tv. Also, the real results of
Italy’s adoption of a “Movement Diplomacy” – an expression coined by
Rifondazione Comunista’s Fausto Bertinotti – are unfolding as Gino Strada’s
“mediator”, Ramatullah Hanefi, was arrested and is now being held in
an Afghan cell under the accusation of spying for the Talibans.   Despite the appeal by opposition leader
Silvio Berlusconi, who invited his coalition to show sense of responsibility
“for the good name of the country”, when Foreign Minister Massimo
d’Alema will speak at the parliament on thursday, the opposition will demand
the answer to several crucial questions. Namely, as former Interior Minister
Giuseppe Pisanu declared, the Cabinet will have to explain the decision to
entrust Gino Strada’s NGO “Emergency” with the negotiations with the
Talibans, the liberation of five key elements in the Taliban’s hierarchy, and
the role of Hamid Karzai’s role in the affair.