Italy's controversial prime minister is not exactly known for his good political manners – and that's even truer of his right-wing coalition partners in the National Alliance and the Northern League.

But, during his visit to Libya on Aug. 30, Berlusconi took a step that critics would not have expected from him: he apologized officially for the war crimes that Italy had committed in North Africa.

Meanwhile, France refuses to follow the Italian example and take responsibility for the crimes it committed in the course of war and colonialism in Algeria, Libya's neighbor.

A spokesman for the French foreign ministry, Eric Chevalier, said in response to the recent agreement between Rome and Tripoli that it was a result of a "special aspect of the bilateral relations between Italy and Libya." None of that was relevant in the context of the history of French-Algerian relations.

The Italian apology may signal the end of the official Italian silence over the crimes committed during the colonial period. It can be seen as a positive development, but one cannot ignore its darker side.

For one thing, Berlusconi's gesture did not stem from purely humanistic considerations, and for another, it came without any concrete political commitments in return. For Berlusconi, this late admission of guilt was rather an "entry ticket" to open the way for a double deal with Libya. On one side is an increased Italian presence in the Libyan oil and gas industries.

And on the other, the newly proclaimed Italian-Libyan "partnership" is also intended to stop African migrants who are unwelcome in Italy and Europe from crossing the Mediterranean.

For the first time, Libya has accepted joint patrols with Italy in the Mediterranean. It has also agreed to satellite observation of its Saharan border – refugees from sub-Saharan Africa are prepared to travel long distances through the desert, risking their lives in the process, in order eventually to land up in Europe and try their luck there.

So General Qaddafi, who adorns himself with the title of "Hero of African Unity," has made himself into a deputy sheriff, policing unwanted migrants on behalf of the states of Europe.

This is a role that contradicts many of his previous statements. As recently as December 2007, during a visit to Paris to meet the French President Nicolas Sarkozy, he complained publicly about the "inhumane way in which Europe treats the immigrants."

According to reports, there are already eight holding camps in Libya in which migrants are being detained. Human rights activists say that the abuse of authority is standard practice in the camps and legal standards are regularly ignored.

In addition, some 60,000 people are believed to be held in Libyan prisons, accused of having attempted "to emigrate and cross the Libyan border illegally."

Already, in the last few weeks, Algeria has introduced the offence of "illegal emigration" into its criminal code. But Libya is the first country to participate directly in the immigration and security system of the EU's outer borders. As of yet, other Maghreb countries are likely to follow suit.

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Bernhard Schmid is a freelance writer. This article, translated from German, originally appeared in Qantara.de and is distributed by the Common Ground News Service (CGNews).