Those who have been reading us for some time know that on the sad story of Silvia Romano, the volunteer kidnapped on 20 November last year in Chakama, in the hinterland of Malindi, we chose the line of silence and to write about it only when the news comes from certain and institutional sources or from reliable testimonies collected by us on the spot.
Since the first days after the kidnapping, on the basis of this ethics and our sources, we have written that almost certainly his kidnapping was not an act of terrorism but the result of the action of a gang of common criminals. This fact was confirmed today during the summit held in Rome in the presence of the Kenyan National Prosecutor Noordin Haji, the Commander of the Ros and other representatives of the Italian and Kenyan security.
Not only that, the summit in Rome has leaked other news of which we were aware and which defeat many of the unnecessary arzigogoli and conjectures shot by certain media in these months of silence: the girl was alive up to at least Santo Stefano, later would be sold to another gang of criminals, but they would lose track of it.
What is not yet known is whether there was a subsequent negotiation that would have suddenly stopped or if there was some other unexpected event. But here, with the consistency you know, we stop and let those who are good and capable of doing so speculate.
The inescapable news is that in Nairobi on 29 July will begin the trial of two of the members of the original band that kidnapped Silvia.
In the next few hours more details may emerge from the Roman summit, you can also read about it in Italian newspapers.