US envoy visits Italy for Libya talks

ROME — Italy and the US share "deep concern about the humanitarian situation in Libya," the US embassy in Rome said on Friday, as a top State Department official visited the Italian capital on a European tour. William Burns -- the number three ranked State Department official -- met with senior government officials in Italy, which has close diplomatic and economic ties to Moamer Kadhafi's regime and is Libya's former colonial ruler. "The United States and Italy share deep concern about the humanitarian situation in Libya and the urgent need to end violence there," the US embassy said in a statement as Burns continued his tour of other European capitals. Burns earlier thanked Libyan Foreign Minister Musa Kusa for cooperation shown in helping with the evacuation of US nationals from the country. A US-chartered ship with 300 evacuees left on Friday for the island of Malta. President Barack Obama on Thursday called British Prime Minister David Cameron, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, to seek ways to ensure "accountability" for the Libyan government. Obama discussed the need for "effective" ways for the world to respond "immediately" to violence that had violated all international norms, the White House said in a statement