Syria escalation concerns Mattarella - Unterberger (3)

Rome, April 12 - President Sergio Mattarella is concerned about the escalation in Syria after a suspected chemical attack by the Assad regime, Senate autonomies group chief Juliane Unterberger told reporters after government-formation consultations Thursday. "We cannot report the content of our talks with President Mattarella, but it doesn't take much imagination to understand how concerned he is for this escalation and how the political forces in Italy are reacting," she said. Matteo Salvini of the rightwing populist League on Wednesday called on Premier Paolo Gentiloni to take a "clear position for Italy against all further and disastrous military intervention in Syria. "I would not like that economic motives, power demands or the alleged use, never proven, of chemical weapons never found in the past should unleash a conflict that may become extremely dangerous". He said Italy must "oppose missile raids and bombing", which have been announced by US President Donald Trump. Gentiloni responded by saying that the use of chemical weapons by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad "cannot be tolerated". However, "over and above the response to crimes we first of all need to work for peace," he added. Gentiloni was commenting on a suspected chemical attack on rebel-held Douma in the besieged Eastern Ghouta region.