Nicaragua says it is cutting diplomatic ties with Italy

Nicaragua said Thursday it is severing diplomatic relations with Italy after Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani criticized Managua for sheltering Alessio Casimirri, who was convicted in Italy over the 1978 kidnapping and killing of former Italian prime minister Aldo Moro.

Casimirri, 74, was sentenced in absentia to six life terms in prison. He arrived in Nicaragua in 1983 and obtained Nicaraguan citizenship five years later. In 2004, Nicaragua's Supreme Court refused an Italian extradition request.

Speaking at a conference in Madrid on Wednesday, Tajani criticized the Nicaraguan government for continuing to shelter Casimirri. Italian media quoted him as saying Italy had nothing in common with the positions of extremist governments such as Nicaragua's.

Nicaragua's foreign ministry responded by saying it was breaking off all diplomatic relations with Italy over what it called Tajani's unjustified, aggressive and irresponsible comments.

Italy's Foreign Ministry said it would continue to demand that Casimirri answer before Italian justice for the crimes for which he has been convicted.

Managua is under US and EU sanctions. Thousands of Nicaraguans have fled into exile as the government jailed hundreds of opponents, real and perceived, and some Nicaraguans have been stripped of their citizenship.