Italy's "cultural blue berets" ready to help in Palmyra

(AGI) Rome, Apr 4 - Italy's cultural blue beret task force is ready to be deployed to join operations in the recently liberated city of Palmyra. "We are waiting for a telephone cale", said Minister for Culture Paolo Gentiloni during a press conference at the Farnesina. "We have acknowledged leadership in these matters" he said, stressing that "the memorandum signed with UNESCO provides for the possibility of this task force being deployed in crisis situations such as Palmyra". Following onsite inspections by Syrian archaeologists, UNESCO has carried out "further inspections via its Beirut headquarters to check the state of the locations and their needs. "We are ready, and it is possible that in the light of all this, UNESCO may call on several different countries" (AGI). .