Italy Demands Justice from U.S. Over Iraq Death

Reuters | March 8, 2005
By Crispian Balmer

ROME - Italy's foreign minister rejected Tuesday a U.S. account of how its forces killed an Italian intelligence agent in Iraq and urged Washington to punish any soldiers found guilty of wrongdoing in the shooting.

"It is our duty to demand truth and justice," Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini told parliament.

Agent Nicola Calipari has been hailed as a hero in Italy after he died shielding a newly freed hostage from U.S. gunfire as they drove to Baghdad airport last Friday.

The killing has strained ties between the United States and Italy, which has been one of President Bush's staunchest allies in Europe over the war in Iraq.

Fini dismissed speculation that U.S. forces deliberately fired on the Italians, but he said a U.S. military statement on the incident appeared to be at odds with what actually happened.

"It was certainly an accident, an accident caused by a series of circumstances and coincidences," Fini said.

"But this doesn't mean, in fact it makes it necessary, to demand that events are clarified ... to identify those responsible, and if people are to blame then to request and ensure that the guilty parties are punished," he added.

The U.S. military has said its soldiers fired on the Italians' car after it approached a checkpoint at speed and failed to heed signals to slow down.

But in a detailed reconstruction, Fini insisted that the Italians had been driving slowly and had received no warning.

APOLOGY

Fini said that immediately after the shooting, U.S. soldiers had apologized profusely to freed hostage Giuliana Sgrena and an unnamed Italian intelligence officer who survived the fire.

"The government has a duty to point out that the reconstruction of the tragic event that I have set out ... does not coincide totally with what has been said so far by the U.S. authorities," Fini said.

President Bush has promised an investigation. In previous "friendly-fire" deaths, the Pentagon has not publicly admitted to any culpability on the part of U.S. forces.

Italy deployed 3,000 troops to Iraq following the fall of Baghdad and has made clear that it will not withdraw its troops despite Calipari's death. But it fears any hint of a U.S. whitewash over the incident will fuel anti-American sentiment.

Sgrena, an award-winning journalist who was held hostage for a month in Iraq before Calipari masterminded her release, has suggested the Italians were fired at because the United States opposes Rome's practice of negotiating with kidnappers.

The White House has rejected that suggestion.

FATAL MISSION

The Islamic militant group that held Sgrena hostage said in a tape released Tuesday that they had rejected offers of a ransom for her release. Italian newspapers have reported that between $6 million to $8 million was handed over by Italy.

Fini Tuesday gave a long account of Calipari's fatal mission to Baghdad but made no mention of any ransom. He said Rome had never considered a military swoop to free Sgrena for fear such an operation would endanger her life.

He said Calipari arrived in Baghdad Friday afternoon after establishing contact with the kidnappers. He checked in with U.S. authorities at the airport before driving off with an Italian colleague to meet an Iraqi middleman.

The middleman took them to Sgrena, who was seated in the wreckage of a car, dressed in black robes and wearing a mask.

On the drive back to the airport, the Italians left the lights on in the car to help identify them to U.S. checkpoints.

As they neared the airport, the car slowed to about 40-km/h because the road was wet and because the driver had to make a sharp turning. Half way around the curve, a searchlight picked out the car and guns opened fire for 10-15 seconds, Fini said.

The intelligence officer who survived the attack was forced to kneel in the road until the soldiers realized who he was.

"Two young Americans approached our officer and, demoralized, repeatedly apologized for what had happened," Fini said.

Hero's death sparks fury at US

News 24 | March 8, 2005

Rome - Italy may have buried the hero of its most recent kidnap ordeal in Iraq, cut down by United States "friendly fire", but it has failed to lay to rest anger over his death.

"Today we paid homage to a valiant man, tomorrow we will renew our demand for justice," said former prime minister Massimo D'Alema, president of the largest opposition party.

D'Alema is one of many figures across the political spectrum calling on the United States for a full account of the incident.

The killing of Nicola Calipari, and the shadowy circumstances surrounding it, has heightened fears over a rising chorus of anti-Americanism on the Italian left, though Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and senior officials have rallied round his government's special relationship with Washington.

"The alliance with the United States is not up for debate, likewise our military commitment to Iraq," Berlusconi was quoted as saying by Italian media on Monday.

The opposition push for a reexamination of that relationship in Iraq was expected to broaden when the lower house of parliament hears a statement on the incident from Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini later Tuesday.

"All Italy demands that the United States give an account of what happened," said Deputy Prime Minister Marco Follini.

"It demands, and I underline the word, clear answers and will not content itself with vague responses."

US ambassador Mel Sembler had talks late on Monday at Berlusconi's offices with the prime minister and Fini, to provide a reconstruction of events, Italian media reported.

Calipari was killed in a hail of gunfire from a US patrol as he tried to shield rescued hostage Giuliana Sgrena while escorting her to Baghdad airport and a plane back to Italy.

Sgrena, who was wounded, has repeatedly suggested US forces may have deliberately tried to kill her because Washington strongly opposed Italy's tactics of negotiating with her kidnappers.

The White House, which has promised a full investigation into the shooting, dismissed the allegation Monday as "absurd".

Calipari, 51, was Rome's top intelligence officer in Iraq and the veteran of several such negotiations, which have allowed all but two Italians to return from Iraq alive.

Berlusconi's centre-right government is increasingly concerned it has become a soft touch for Iraq's cash-hungry kidnap gangs, particularly given reports it has paid ransoms in the past, despite official denials.

Sgrena was the ninth Italian to be kidnapped in Iraq, a disproportionate number compared to other coalition countries like Britain and the United States, which have fiercely opposed paying kidnappers.

Italian media reported on Monday that anywhere between $1m and $6m had been exchanged for Sgrena's release.

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