President George Abela yesterday thanked Italy for helping the Armed Forces of Malta through technical support and military training over the past few decades.

During a state dinner in Rome hosted by his Italian counterpart Giorgio Napolitano, Dr Abela also expressed satisfaction at the strong economic relations between the two countries and applauded the planned energy link between them. However, Dr Abela’s visit in Italy appeared to have caused some logistical problems, with Rome mayor Gianni Alemanno yesterday posting a controversial tweet about the heavy traffic clogging the city’s streets whenever a head of state visits the Italian capital.

“This cannot go on anymore, the government has to be more prudent when it comes to ceremonies,” he posted on Twitter. Urging the military commander to devise a new protocol, Mr Alemanno later said it was ridiculous that the city was forced to ground to a halt while wreaths were laid at the foot of a monument.

Dr Abela, who was on a two-day visit, inaugurated an exhibition of five works by the Maltese baroque sculptor Melchiorre Gafà at the Accademia Nazionale di San Luca where he studied and taught sculpture.

The five works – Natività, Adorazione dei Pastori, Annunciazione, Gloria di Santa Rosa da Lima and Gloria di Santa Caterina da Siena – were done in Rome but were transported to Malta when the sculptor died in 1667, aged 31.