Italy and Libya have come to an agreement over a historic friendship and cooperation accord resolving issues related to Italy's colonial occupation of the North African country, government sources said Friday.
A Libyan delegation has been in Rome to thrash out the final terms of the accord after more than a decade of negotiations.
Sources confirmed that the accord involves various projects, including the Italian construction of a large coastal highway costing an estimated six billion euros that would link Libya with Egypt and Tunisia.
The accord covers a 25-year period, with a commitment to annual spending, sources said.
But they said the accord was also dependent on Libya putting into effect a number of measures already agreed with the Italian government to combat illegal immigration to Italy from the shores of the North African country, including joint patrols of the Libyan coast.
Sources said both sides had decided to leave some collateral issues open that will later be dealt with via the creation of ''Italo-Libyan work groups''.
Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi will fly to meet Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in Bengasi on Saturday, sources confirmed.
The accord is designed to resolve issues related to Italy's colonial occupation of Libya in 1911 and the expulsion of some 20,000 Italians by Gaddafi in 1970.
The Libyan leader has long demanded compensation for damages caused during Italy's occupation of the country.
The 1970 expulsions came a year after Gaddafi came to power in a coup. Most of the Italians had been in Libya since the colonial period.
The friendship accord was almost sealed last year by the Romano Prodi government but then Gaddafi decided against it.
Italy is Libya's biggest trade partner and 25% of Italian oil imports come from the North African country.
