Wounded Italian Hostage Arrives Home, Speaks With Prosecutors

March 5 (Bloomberg) -- Giuliana Sgrena, the Italian reporter that U.S.-led forces shot and wounded hours after she was freed from her kidnappers in Iraq, arrived in Rome today and was immediately questioned by Italian prosecutors.

Sgrena, 57, was wounded and an Italian intelligence officer, Nicola Calipari, was killed when coalition forces fired on their convoy as it approached a Baghdad checkpoint yesterday, according to the Italian government and a U.S. military spokesman. Italy said the shooting came from U.S. forces. The U.S. military wouldn't say who fired the shots. snip

Sgrena told Rome prosecutors Franco Ionta and Pietro Saviotti that the shots didn't come from soldiers standing at a checkpoint.

``It wasn't a checkpoint, but a patrol that started shooting after pointing some lights in our direction,'' the Ansa news agency cited Sgrena as telling the prosecutors. ``We hadn't previously encountered any checkpoint and we didn't understand where the shots came from.''

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This has the makings of a full blown international incident.

Don

<snip>"The Americans and Italians knew about (her) car coming," Pier Scolari said on leaving Celio hospital.

"They were 700 meters (yards) from the airport, which means that they had passed all checkpoints."

Friday`s shooting was heard by Berlusconi`s aides who were on the phone with one of the intelligence officers, said Scolari. "Then the US military silenced the cellphones," he charged.

"Giuliana had information, and the US military did not want her to survive," he added.

When Sgrena was kidnapped on February 4 she was writing an article on refugees from Fallujah seeking shelter at a Baghdad mosque after US forces bombed the former Sunni rebel bastion.

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Don

The United States is considering setting up an elite squad of assassins to target leaders of the Iraqi insurgency, according to reports yesterday.
Newsweek Magazine said the Pentagon, in Washington, is drawing up possible proposals to send US special forces teams to advise, support and train hand-picked Iraqi squads to target Sunni rebels.

The ploy has apparently been called the "Salvador option" after the strategy that was secretly employed by Ronald Reagan's administration to combat the leftist guerrilla insurgency in El Salvador in the early 1980s. In that instance, the US government backed "nationalist forces" that hunted down rebel leaders and their supporters.

The plans appear to be a sign of the increasing frustration at the continued level of violence in Iraq. snip

The plan would expand the role of the US special forces into undercover missions, something many in the CIA are said to oppose.

The interim government of prime minister Ayad Allawi is said to have given the proposal strong backing.

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Body of slain Italian agent gets hero's welcome

06 Mar 2005 00:40:05 GMT

Source: Reuters

By Christiano Corvino

ROME, March 6 (Reuters) - The body of an Italian secret service agent shot by U.S. forces in Iraq was flown home to a hero's welcome early on Sunday amid mounting anger in Italy over his killing.

Agent Nicola Calipari died while shielding reporter Giuliana Sgrena, just freed after a month held hostage, from U.S. troops who opened fire on their car near Baghdad airport. snip

The U.S. military said its forces shot at the car on Friday evening after flashing lights and firing warning shots to try to get it to stop.

Italy's minister for parliamentary relations, Carlo Giovanardi, told state television on Saturday that he did not believe the U.S. version of events.

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<snip>When The Associated Press in Baghdad asked the U.S. military to see the vehicle on Saturday, the military said it didn't know where it was.

Unanswered questions:

- How many people were wounded? The Americans said two civilians. Sgrena and an intelligence agent. Italian authorities said two agents were wounded besides Sgrena. Italian military officials declined to clear up the discrepancy and Berlusconi's office did not respond to a request for information.

- Were the Americans told by the Italians of Sgrena's imminent release or that she would be taken straight to Baghdad airport? Italians will likely be expecting answers early next week when Italian authorities, including Berlusconi, are to brief parliament on the abduction, release and shooting.

- Was ransom paid? An Iraqi lawmaker told Belgian state TV Saturday night that he had "nonofficial" information there was a $1 million payment. A key Italian lawmaker said in September he believed the Italian government paid $1 million for the release of the two women aid workers who were held captive for three weeks. Italy's foreign minister denied that claim.

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