Italy can prevent international vessels taking rescued migrants to its ports by re-writing its current bilateral agreements, ex- navy chief of staff Giuseppe De Giorgi, told Adnkronos.
"We are talking about bilateral accords between states," De Giorgio said.
"Under Operation Sofia's current rules of engagement, when its ships intercept migrants, they are brought to Italy" he said, referring to the European Union's anti-trafficking mission.
But, as with any agreement, these rules can be revised, said De Giorgi, who commanded Italy's disbanded 'Mare Nostrum' Mediterranean patrol mission which ran from 2013-2014.
''Clearly, these accords involve the defence ministry but bilateral agreements between states are the government's preserve, therefore the Italian cabinet should decide on any new position to adopt," he said.
Differences over migrant rescues emerged between the defence and interior ministries emerged when hardline interior minister Matteo Salvini on Sunday urged the closure of Italian ports to vessels engaged in international missions in the Mediterranean after an Irish navy ship took 106 rescued migrants to Messina at the weekend.
A defence ministry source said late on Sunday that Salvini's planned move to bar international rescue vessels from Italy's ports was "beyond the interior ministry's remit."
The Irish ship, the Samuel Beckett, was taking part in Operation Sofia.
The EU’s border and coastguard agency, Frontex, operates a search-and-rescue operation in the Mediterranean using aircraft and naval vessels contributed by various countries.
Italy’s coastguard coordinates the operations and tells Frontex ships where to take the rescued migrants - usually to Italian ports. Frontex's current mission rules require rescue vessels to go to the nearest port.
