Libya and Italy signed an accord on Saturday under which Italy will pay $5 billion in compensation for colonial misdeeds during its decades-long rule of the North African country, according to Reuters. "This accord opens the door to the future cooperation and partnership between Italy and Libya," Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi said at the signing ceremony at a palace which was once the headquarters of the Rome government's senior official during the 1911-1943 colonial rule. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said the accord ends "40 years of misunderstanding", adding that "it is a complete and moral acknowledgement of the damage inflicted on Libya by Italy during the colonial era". "In the name of the Italian people ... I feel the duty to apologise and show our pain for what happened many years ago and which affected many of your families," Berlusconi said, according to a text on the government's website.
