The foreign ministry summoned the United Arab Emirates ambassador Omar al- Shamsi for talks on Tuesday after the UAE refused to allow an Italian military plane bound for Afghanistan to enter its airspace.
"On the instructions of minister Luigi Di Maio, the secretary general of the Foreign Ministry, Ettore Sequi, summoned today the UAE ambassador Omar Al Shamsi, to the foreign ministry," the ministry said in a statement.
At their meeting, Sequi conveyed to Shamsi "his surprise and great disappointment for an unexpected gesture that is hard to understand," the statement continued.
The C130 plane had to land at Dammam airport in Saudi Arabia and wait there while the aircraft's pilot tried unsuccessfully to negotiate with UAE authorities.
Due to the UAE ban, a flag-lowering ceremony in Herat to end to Italy's almost 20-year mission to Afghanistan next month was delayed by several hours to allow the C130 to refuel and fly there by a different route.
