THE HAGUE: Italy on Wednesday launched a legal battle at an international tribunal to bring home an Italian marine, barred from leaving India after the 2012 killing of two Indian fishermen who Rome says were mistaken for pirates.

Marine Salvatore Girone has been living in Italian Embassy in New Delhi for several years and is banned from leaving the city pending resolution of a dispute which has soured bilateral ties.

Girone and fellow marine Massimiliano Latorre were arrested by Indian police in 2012, days after they shot at an Indian fishing boat, killing two fishermen, while protecting an Italian oil tanker as part of an anti-piracy mission off India’s southern Kerala coast.

The so-called “Enrica Lexie incident,” named after the oil tanker, is now subject to international arbitration in a bitter fight between the two countries.

Ties soured even further after the two marines overstayed a return trip to Italy they were allowed to make in early 2013 to vote in general elections. Both marines were barred from leaving India again pending a trial, although they have not yet been charged.