The World - News from July 1, 1988

The lower house of Italy’s Parliament overwhelmingly approved the government’s decision to accept 72 U.S. F-16 fighter jets being evicted from their base in Spain. The Chamber of Deputies voted 298 to 196 to back the plan to move the 401st Tactical Wing from Torrejon, Spain, to Crotone in the Puglia region of southern Italy by 1991. A coalition of Communists, Italy’s second-largest party, and smaller leftist groups opposed accepting the jets. Foreign Minister Giulio Andreotti rejected opposition claims that the relocation of the planes to Italy would harm superpower relations.