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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LindyBill who wrote (112329)	5/3/2005 3:26:59 AM
From: KLP	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793818

Italy hits back over agent's death U.S. reports says soldiers were not told of movements Monday, May 2, 2005 Posted: 7:33 PM EDT (2333 GMT) cnn.com ROME, Italy (CNN) -- Disputing the conclusions of a U.S. report into the fatal shooting of an Italian intelligence agent, an Italian investigation released late Monday found that stress and inexperience among U.S. soldiers played a role in the shooting. Italian intelligence agent Nicola Calipari, 50, was killed in the March 4 incident shortly after he secured the release of journalist Giuliana Sgrena, who had been held by insurgents in Iraq. U.S. soldiers opened fire on their vehicle as it approached a checkpoint en route to Baghdad International Airport. The Italian report said there were coordination problems among officials in Iraq, but U.S. officials had been told about the plans to rescue Sgrena -- something the U.S. military has denied. The United States released its report Saturday, with the military saying no disciplinary action should be taken against any soldier involved in the shooting. (Full story) The Italian report also found no evidence the killing was deliberate. But the Italian report also said no clear warning signs were given to the vehicle -- that flashing warning lights came at the same time troops began firing. In addition, the report took issue with the American report about the speed the vehicle was traveling, saying it was 20 to 30 miles per hour (30 to 50 km/h) compared with the U.S. military's claim it was around 50 mph (80 km/h). Italy has been a staunch U.S. ally in Iraq and provided more than 3,000 troops for missions there but Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has faced increasing calls to bring the troops home in the wake of the U.S. report clearing its troops. Berlusconi is to address both houses of the Parliament on Thursday about the Italian report. A classified version of the U.S. report appeared on the Internet due to a computer error shortly after its Saturday release, officials said. CNN is reporting some details from that version, but none that would risk the security or privacy of U.S. and Italian personnel, including their names. The U.S. report said that Baghdad was then under a wave of insurgent attacks that reached into the thousands. It also concluded that word that agent Calipari, 50, was trying to spirit Sgrena out of Iraq was never passed to U.S. forces. The U.S. version said the troops who shot and killed Calipari and wounded Sgrena at a checkpoint were operating within their rules and would not face disciplinary action. The U.S. report painted a grim picture of insurgency in the Iraqi capital in the months leading up to the March incident, including some details not made public elsewhere. It said that from November 2004 to March 2005 there were more than 3,000 attacks in Baghdad, with over 2,000 of those attacks directed against U.S. forces. The report detailed the types of attacks along the airport road that troops had previously encountered, such as explosives set on timers, explosives placed along guard rails or along median strips, and even explosives in animal carcasses. The U.S. report was emphatic that no U.S. military personnel were aware ahead of time that the Italians were traveling on the airport road that night. But the report described an exchange between a U.S. Army captain and an Italian general, to whom he had been assigned as an aide. It says the Italian general suspected Sgrena was on her way to the airport that night, but told him, "It is best if no one knows." The captain took that to be a direct order, the report says. U.S. investigators said it was difficult to reconstruct the March 4 incident because the scene was not preserved, but they believe the Italians were traveling about 50 mph (80 km/h) when the U.S. troops flashed lights and signaled them to stop before 11 shots were fired. The checkpoint was on a curved area in the road, and that may have been a contributing factor, the U.S. report said. Calipari was hit in the head by a bullet as he attempted to shield Sgrena. The reporter was wounded in the shoulder, and two others in the car were also wounded. Soldiers tried to render medical assistance to Calipari at the scene but he died within a few minutes, the classified report says. The young soldier who fired the shots apparently became so upset he was relieved of his post so he could "collect himself," the report said. One indicator of how high tensions may have been running is that soldiers manning that checkpoint had specifically been told to be on the watch for suicide car bombers, one in a black car and one in a white car. The soldiers had already turned around 15 to 30 cars at the checkpoint that night, so when this car approached they believed it was a threat, according to the report. -- CNN Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr contributed to this report