Giuseppe Buccino Grimaldi is Italy's new envoy to Libya, replacing Giuseppe Perrone. The move was decided on Wednesday at a cabinet meeting, Adnkronos learned from sources.
A seasoned diplomat, Buccino Grimaldi was previously director for European Union affairs at the Italian foreign ministry and earlier served as ambassador to Libya from September 2011 to May 2015. He has also been Italy's ambassador to Qatar and to Lebanon.
The Italian government recalled Perrone in August after he told a Libyan TV channel that security conditions in the chaos-stricken country prevented elections being held the near future - comments that prompted powerful eastern military commander Khalifa Haftar to say Perrone was unwelcome in Libya.
Perrone will become Italy's new ambassador to Iran, the sources told Adnkronos. He had served as envoy to Libya since January 2017, when Italy's was the only western embassy operating in Tripoli.
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