Italy says India violating diplomatic immunity law

ROME (REUTERS) - Italy said on Monday that an Indian court's decision to bar the Italian ambassador from leaving the country violated diplomatic immunity law, but said it hoped to amicably resolve a dispute over the killing of two Indian fishermen by Italian marines.

India's Supreme Court last week ordered the envoy, Mr Daniele Mancini, not to leave after Rome refused to send the marines back to India to face trial following a home visit.

The Italian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the restrictions on its ambassador were an "evident violation" of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which specifies diplomats' rights to safe passage and legal immunity.

Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone, part of a security detail protecting the tanker Enrica Lexi, are accused of shooting the two Indian fishermen, apparently after mistaking them for pirates off the coast of Kerala in February last year.