The Sicilian regional government on Tuesday said it would overturn a regional court's green light for an American company to drill for natural gas in a World Heritage Site on the Italian island.
In the court ruling early on Tuesday, judges gave Texan company Panther Oil permission to drill in the Val di Noto, a part of southern Sicily dotted with Baroque masterpieces.
After a national outcry, Regional Governor Salvatore Cuffaro said later in the day that he would present a motion to the island's legislative assembly "to put an end to the case".
A row over the Texans' plans to explore the area for gas has been running since June, when internationally famous crime writer Andrea Camilleri launched a campaign "to save the Val di Noto from the drills".
Making it a World Heritage Site in 2002, UNESCO said Noto and the seven other towns in its valley were "a testament to the exuberant genius of the art and architecture of the late Baroque".
