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Luca Attanasio (23 May 1977 – 22 February 2021) was an Italian diplomat who served as the ambassador to the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 2017 until his murder there in 2021.


Early life

Attanasio was born on 23 May 1977 in
Saronno Saronno (; lmo, Saronn ) is a ''comune'' of Lombardy, Italy, in the province of Varese. It received the honorary title of city with a presidential decree in 1960. With an estimated population of 39,351 inhabitants, it is the most densely populated ...
, Lombardy, Italy, to father Salvatore Attanasio. He grew up in
Limbiate Limbiate ( lmo, Limbiaa ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Monza and Brianza in the Italian region Lombardy, located about north of Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lomb ...
, Lombardy. He graduated with honors in business at
Bocconi University Bocconi University ( it, Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi, ) is a private university in Milan, Italy. Bocconi provides education in the fields of economics, finance, law, management, political science, public administration and comput ...
in 2001.


Career

Attanasio started his diplomatic career in 2003, at the
Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation ( it, Ministero degli affari esteri e della cooperazione internazionale or ''MAECI'') is the foreign ministry of the government of the Italian Republic. It is also known as the Farnesin ...
, as Directorate for Economic Affairs, Business Support Office, and then to the secretariat of the Directorate General for Africa. A year later he became deputy head secretariat of the undersecretary of state with responsibility for Africa and International Cooperation. Attanasio started his diplomatic career outside Italy in 2006, serving as the Economic and Commercial Office at the Italian Embassy in Bern (2006–2010) and the Regent Consul General in Casablanca (2010–2013). While Regent Consul General in Casablanca Attanasio befriended the representatives of the Trevi group. The company Trevi Fondazioni was then negotiating a cooperation agreement with Morocco for infrastructure contracts around Casablanca and he facilitated the transaction.Death of the Italian ambassador in the DRC: a political assassination?
''lejournaldelafrique.com'', 23 February 2021
In 2013 he returned to the Farnesina where he was appointed Head of the Secretariat of the Directorate General for Globalization and Global Affairs. He then returned to Africa as first counselor at the Italian embassy in Abuja,
Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
, in 2015. From 5 September 2017 until his death he was head of mission in Kinshasa,
Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...
. From 31 October 2019 he was confirmed on site as an Extraordinary Plenipotentiary Ambassador accredited in the DRC. In October 2020, he was awarded the Nassiriya International Prize for Peace. Attanasio was one of Italy's youngest ambassadors.


Death

At 10:30 am on 22 February 2021, a
World Food Programme The World Food Programme; it, Programma alimentare mondiale; es, Programa Mundial de Alimentos; ar, برنامج الأغذية العالمي, translit=barnamaj al'aghdhiat alealami; russian: Всемирная продовольствен ...
(WFP) convoy of three vehicles, carrying a total of seven people, including Attanasio, was attacked by six armed individuals. The convoy was travelling in
North Kivu North Kivu (french: link=no, Nord-Kivu) is a province bordering Lake Kivu in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its capital is Goma. North Kivu borders the provinces of Ituri to the north, Tshopo to the northwest, Maniema to the s ...
, from the province's capital of
Goma Goma is the capital of North Kivu province in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is located on the northern shore of Lake Kivu, next to the Rwandan city of Gisenyi. The lake and the two cities are in the Albertine Rift, the ...
to a WFP school feeding programme in
Rutshuru Rutshuru is a town located in the North Kivu province of the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, and is headquarters of an administrative district, the Rutshuru Territory. The town lies in the western branch of the Albertine Rift between Lake ...
, a town north of Goma, on a route that would have taken the vehicles through
Virunga National Park , iucn_category = II , iucn_ref = , location = Democratic Republic of the Congo , map = Democratic Republic of the Congo , relief = 1 , coordinates = , area = , established = , nearest_city = Goma , photo =Virunga National Park-107997 ...
. The attack occurred near the townships of Kibumba and Kanyamahoro. The WFP has stated the attack occurred on a road that had previously been cleared for travel without security escorts. Attanasio was the main target of the attack. As the gunmen attempted to kidnap him, they opened fire, killing Mustapha Milambo, the Congolese UN driver. They then threatened the six other members of the convoy and brought them to the nearby forest. As local security forces were arriving at the scene following the report of shots fired, the gunmen killed 30-year-old
carabiniere The Carabinieri (, also , ; formally ''Arma dei Carabinieri'', "Arm of Carabineers"; previously ''Corpo dei Carabinieri Reali'', "Royal Carabineers Corps") are the national gendarmerie of Italy who primarily carry out domestic and foreign polic ...
Vittorio Iacovacci and mortally wounded Attanasio. The attackers then kidnapped three of the hostages and fled the scene, while a third Italian national escaped unharmed. Attanasio was hospitalized in critical condition at the UN Hospital in Goma, but died there an hour later after his admission due to gunshot wounds to his abdomen, bringing the total number of deaths resulting from the attack to three. Attanasio was the first foreign ambassador to be killed in the DRC since 1993, and the first Italian ambassador killed while serving his term. The state funerals for both Attanasio and Iacovacci were held on 25 February 2021, at the
Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri The Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels and of the Martyrs ( la, Beatissimae Virginis et omnium Angelorum et Martyrum, it, Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri) is a basilica and titular church in Rome, Italy, built inside the ruined ''frigida ...
in
Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...
. The Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda were accused of being behind the attack by local authorities. However, the group denied any responsibility and condemned the attack, calling it 'ignoble'. Attanasio's wife, Zakia Seddiki, told '' Il Messaggero'' she believed he had been "betrayed by someone close to us, to our family", saying "someone who knew his movements has spoken, has sold him out and betrayed him". On 5 March 2021, Mwilanya Asani William, the attorney who was investigating the murder of Attanasio and the two other men, was murdered by unknown gunmen during an ambush. On 19 January 2022, police in the DRC announced they had arrested six members of a highway robbers' gang suspected of killing Attanasio. According a report from Le journal de l'Afrique, Attanasio's assassination was a revenge by his former partners, members of the
March 23 Movement The March 23 Movement (french: Mouvement du 23 mars), often abbreviated as M23 and also known as the Congolese Revolutionary Army (''Armée révolutionnaire du Congo''), is a rebel military group that is for the most part formed of ethnic Tutsi. ...
(M23) headed by Jean-Marie Runiga, for unfulfilled trade promises.


Personal life

Attanasio was married to Zakia Seddiki, a Morocco-born woman from Casablanca, since 2015. She is the president of a Congolese
non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from g ...
providing assistance to women and children. They had three daughters. While living in Morocco, where he served as the Italian Consul General, Attanasio gave ''
shahada The ''Shahada'' ( Arabic: ٱلشَّهَادَةُ , "the testimony"), also transliterated as ''Shahadah'', is an Islamic oath and creed, and one of the Five Pillars of Islam and part of the Adhan. It reads: "I bear witness that there i ...
'', taking the Muslim name Amir, as his wife was a Muslim. Attanasio himself was a Christian, belonging to the
Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
faith, according to Limbiate parish priest Angelo Gornati. After his death, several Muslim communities observed a
Salat al-gha'ib Absentee funeral prayer in Islam, known as Salat al-Gha'ib ( ar, صلاة الغائب), is a kind of funeral prayer performed upon a dead Muslim if they die in a place where there are no Muslims to pray for the dead. By contrast, if someone d ...
, or absentee funeral prayer, for him and Milambo. Baraa Al Obeidi, imam of Milan's Maria Mosque, said Attanasio should be considered a martyr by the Muslim community, as he was an innocent killed due to his humanitarian work.


See also

*
List of assassinated serving ambassadors This is a list of assassinated serving ambassadors. List References Bibliography *{{cite book, last=Runciman, first=Steven, title=A History of the Crusades: Volume 3, The Kingdom of Acre and the Later Crusades, publisher=Cambridge University ...
*
List of unsolved murders These lists of unsolved murders include notable cases where victims were murdered in unknown circumstances. * List of unsolved murders (before 1900) * List of unsolved murders (1900–1979) * List of unsolved murders (1980–1999) * List of u ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Attanasio, Luca 1977 births 2021 deaths 2020s in the United Nations 21st-century diplomats 21st-century Roman Catholics Ambassadors of Italy to the Democratic Republic of the Congo Bocconi University alumni Deaths by firearm in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Democratic Republic of the Congo–Italy relations Italian people murdered abroad Italian Roman Catholics Male murder victims People from Saronno People murdered in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Unsolved murders in Africa Italian diplomats