Sgrena, who works for the communist newspaper Il Manifesto - a fierce opponent of the war and a frequent critic of U.S. policy
[KLP Note: Nearly sounds like she works for some of the Democrat left here in the US....]
This article says she is in the hospital for the shoulder wound...LGF's article from CNN says they were all laughing...and going fast...this article says they were going 25-30 mph....If Calipari was sitting by her, how did he through himself on her and he got hit in the head...? 300-400 rounds into the car????????? (bottom article)
So did the US know that Italy had paid a ransom for her? Did Italy tell the US that they were coming fast through the checkpoint? Why would her captors have said the "Americans didn't want her to go back?"
Italy Doubts U.S. Version of Iraq Shooting
Mar 6, 12:14 PM (ET)
talian hostage Giuliana Sgrena arrives at Ciampino airport in Rome, March 5, 2005. Sgrena, shot and...
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By Robin Pomeroy and Roberto Landucci
ROME (Reuters) - Italian hostage Giuliana Sgrena, shot and wounded after being freed in Iraq, said Sunday U.S. forces may have deliberately targeted her because Washington opposed Italy's policy of dealing with kidnappers.
She offered no evidence for the claim that reflected growing anger in Italy over the conduct of the war, which has claimed more than 20 Italian lives, including secret agent Nicola Calipari who rescued her moments before being killed.
The shooting Friday evening has sparked tension with Italy's U.S. allies and put pressure on Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to take a hard line with President Bush.
Speaking from the Rome hospital where she is being treated, Sgrena said the troops may have targeted her because Washington opposes Italy's reported readiness to pay ransoms to kidnappers.
"The United States doesn't approve of this (ransom) policy and so they try to stop it in any way possible," the veteran war reporter, 57, told Sky Italia TV.
In later comments to Reuters, Sgrena was less strident:
"You could characterise as an ambush what happens when you are showered with gunfire. If this happened because of a lack of information or deliberately, I don't know, but even if it was due to a lack of information it is unacceptable."
Bush promised a full probe into why troops shot at the Italian car nearing Baghdad airport Friday evening. Calipari died instantly of a single bullet to the head, doctors said.
The U.S. military says the car was speeding toward a checkpoint and ignored warning shots, an explanation rejected by Italian government ministers and the driver of the car.
A senior U.S. official, White House counselor Dan Bartlett, said the shooting was a "horrific accident."
"As you know, in a situation where there is a live combat zone, particularly this road to the airport ... people are making split-second decisions, and it's critically important that we get the facts before we make judgments," he told CNN.
Rome prosecutors have opened a second degree murder investigation into Calipari's death and Italy's justice minister has signed documents requesting information from witnesses.
PUNISHMENT, APOLOGY
According to Italy's leading daily Corriere della Sera, the driver, an unidentified Italian agent, said: "We were driving slowly, about 40-50 km/h (25-30 mph)."
In a harrowing account of the ordeal, Sgrena wrote in Sunday's issue of her communist newspaper Il Manifesto that Calipari saved her life by shielding her with his body.
"Nicola threw himself on to protect me and then suddenly I heard his last breath as he died on top of me," she wrote.
Although Italy has denied paying kidnappers in past hostage releases, Agriculture Minister Gianni Alemanno told the Corriere that "very probably" a large ransom had been paid in this case. Newspapers spoke of sums of up to 8 million euros ($10 million).
"We need to get the guilty punished and an apology from the Americans," Alemanno said. "We are trustworthy allies but we must not give the impression of being subordinates."
Parliamentary relations minister Carlo Giovanardi also said he did not believe the U.S. version of events.
Italy is one of Europe's closest U.S. allies and Washington is keen to show it is taking the matter seriously.
Bush telephoned Berlusconi Friday night. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld called their Italian counterparts over the weekend.
LAST RESPECTS
Thousands of people queued up outside Rome's huge marble Victor Emmanuel monument to pay respects to Calipari where his body is lying in state before a funeral Monday.
The national outpouring of grief and anger has put pressure on Berlusconi, an ardent supporter of Bush and his war on terror, to get answers from Washington on what went wrong before he addresses parliament on the matter Wednesday.
"All 57 million Italians who were united in the anticipation of Giuliana Sgrena's liberation have the right to know what happened," said Romano Prodi, the former prime minister and leader of Italy's center-left opposition.
Berlusconi has sent some 3,000 Italian soldiers to Iraq, a decision opposed by a majority of Italians and the opposition which is seeking to unseat him at a general election next year and weaken him at regional polls next month. ($1=.7568 Euro)
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Breaking: Mar 7, 2005 ---1:31 AM EST
Italian Journalist Promises Intelligence Officer's Widow She'll Find Out Truth About His Death
By Maria Sanminiatelli
Associated Press Writer
ROME (AP) - A steady stream of Italians visited the body of the Italian intelligence officer lying in state two days after American troops in Iraq shot and killed him, while the journalist whose life he saved promised his widow she would find out why they were attacked.
Giuliana Sgrena, who was abducted Feb. 4 in Baghdad, spoke from a Rome hospital where she was recuperating Sunday from a shrapnel wound to the shoulder. The intelligence officer, Nicola Calipari, was killed when U.S. troops at a checkpoint fired at their vehicle Friday as they headed to the airport shortly after her release.
Sgrena said Calipari died shielding her, and that it was possible they were targeted deliberately because America opposes Italy's policy of negotiating with kidnappers.
However, she has offered no evidence to support her claim, and in an interview published in Monday's edition of the daily Corriere della Sera, she said she doesn't know what caused the attack.
"I believe, but it's only a hypothesis, that the happy ending to the negotiations must have been irksome," she said. "The Americans are against this type of operation. For them, war is war, human life doesn't count for much."
Sgrena has rejected the U.S. military's account of the shooting, claiming instead that American soldiers gave no warning before they opened fire.
The White House said it was a "horrific accident" and promised a full investigation.
Sgrena, meanwhile, told private TG5 TV she had spoken with Calipari's wife.
The only thing that I promised and I want to guarantee to her is that we must know the truth, because such exceptional people cannot die for no reason," Sgrena said. "If someone is responsible, we need to know."
The shooting has fueled anti-American sentiment in Italy, where a majority of people opposed the war in Iraq and Premier Silvio Berlusconi's decision to send 3,000 troops after Saddam Hussein's ouster.
One Italian Cabinet member urged Sgrena to tone down her remarks.
"I understand the emotion of these hours, but those who have been under stress in the past few weeks should pull themselves together and avoid saying nonsense," Communications Minister Maurizio Gasparri was quoted as saying by the ANSA news agency.
Gasparri said the shooting would not affect Italian support for efforts to secure postwar Iraq.
Neither Italian nor U.S. officials gave details about how authorities won Sgrena's release after a month in captivity. But Agriculture Minister Giovanni Alemanno was quoted as saying it was "very probable" a ransom was paid. U.S. officials have cautioned against ransoms, saying they encourage further kidnappings.
Sgrena, who works for the communist newspaper Il Manifesto - a fierce opponent of the war and a frequent critic of U.S. policy - said she knew nothing about a ransom, and offered no details on the talks.
"The fact that the Americans don't want negotiations to free the hostages is known," she told Sky TG24 television by telephone, her voice hoarse and shaky. "The fact that they do everything to prevent the adoption of this practice to save the lives of people held hostage, everybody knows that. So I don't see why I should rule out that I could have been the target."
Her editor, Gabriele Polo, said Italian officials told him 300 to 400 rounds were fired at the car. Italian military officials said two other intelligence agents were wounded in the shooting; U.S. officials said it was only one.
White House counselor Dan Bartlett said it was crucial that the facts be determined before judgments were made about the shooting
Speaking Sunday on CNN's "Late Edition," he called the shooting "a horrific accident" and pledged a full investigation.
"As you know, in a situation where there is a live combat zone, particularly this road to the airport has been a notorious area for car bombs," Bartlett said. "People are making split-second decisions, and it's critically important that we get the facts before we make judgments."
Calipari's body was returned to Italy late Saturday, and an autopsy was performed Sunday. ANSA quoted doctors as saying Calipari was struck in the temple by a single round and died instantly.
The body lay in state at Rome's Vittoriano monument and a state funeral was planned for Monday. At least 10,000 people paid their respects Saturday, and the chamber containing his coffin remained open early Sunday as people kept coming.
Calipari was to be awarded the gold medal of valor for his heroism.
Italian military officials said two other agents were wounded, but U.S. officials said it was only one.
AP-ES-03-07-05 0131EST
This story can be found at: ap.tbo.com |
