A Presidential Plea for Truth 44 Years After the Ustica Tragedy
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President Sergio Mattarella called on “friendly” countries to help Italy finally get to the bottom of the 1980 Ustica plane crash on the 44th anniversary of the incident that killed 81 people in one of Italy’s biggest mysteries.
The crash has been the source of almost endless speculation and theories, and most recently former Italian premier Giuliano Amato said he believed one of the main theories, that a French missile meant for then Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi – who was not in the air thanks to a tip-off from his friend and prime minister Bettino Craxi – caused the disaster.
“In the skies over Ustica, 44 years ago, a massacre of immense proportions took place.
All 81 people on board the DC9 flying from Bologna to Palermo were killed, said Mattarella at a commemoration ceremony Thursday.
“The Republic was profoundly scarred by that tragedy, which remains an open wound also because a full truth is still lacking, and this goes against the need for justice that fuels democratic life.
“The Republic will not tire of continuing to seek and ask for cooperation, also from friendly countries, to fully reconstruct what happened”.
Amato said in September the most likely explanation for the downing of the plane of the now-defunct Itavia line was that it got in the way of a French missile aimed at a Libyan jet believed to be carrying Gaddafi.
Amato also suggested that Gaddafi was not aboard because he had been tipped off to France’s plans by then Socialist premier and Amato mentor Craxi, who was later downed by the Tangentopoli scandals and ended his days a fugitive from Italian justice in Tunisia.
