Coalition allies criticise Italy’s Salvini for calling Hezbollah terrorists
Deputy prime minister defends remarks on visit to Israel as partners in government urge him to cool his rhetoric
Italy's deputy prime minister, Matteo Salvini, has defended himself against attacks from his own government on Wednesday, after he was criticised for calling the militant group Hezbollah Islamist terrorists. Salvini, who heads the rightist League party, began a two-day visit to Israel on Tuesday with a tour of the country’s northern border, where the Israeli army says it has uncovered attack tunnels built by Hezbollah from Lebanon. He later denounced the Shiite group as terrorists and doubled down on his comments on Wednesday following criticism from the 5-Star Movement, his coalition allies, criticised . “It is strange to read in the Italian newspapers that some people are amazed that I call Islamist terrorists what they are, Islamist terrorists,” he said on Facebook. “Let us give the right weight to words. If we do not identify the adversary, I am not saying enemy but adversary, then the game will never be won,” he said. The row comes as the balance of power between the League and...
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