ITALY: ITALIANS DEMAND FURTHER INVESTIGATION INTO DEATH OF TOP SECRET AGENT IN IRAQ AFTER US. INVESTIGATORS CLEAR SOLDIERS OF RESPONSIBILITY FOR HIS DEATH

Record ID: 648489

  • Title: ITALY: ITALIANS DEMAND FURTHER INVESTIGATION INTO DEATH OF TOP SECRET AGENT IN IRAQ AFTER US. INVESTIGATORS CLEAR SOLDIERS OF RESPONSIBILITY FOR HIS DEATH
  • Date: 26th April 2005
  • Summary: (BN09) ROME, ITALY (APRIL 26, 2005) (REUTERS) 1. VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WALKING IN STREET (3 SHOTS) 0.11 2. BUS AT TRAFFIC LIGHTS 0.16 3. (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) GIUSEPPE, SAYING: "In my opinion, war is a tragedy and when people are at war they are always very tense on all sides. Therefore these kind of things can happen." 0.35 4. PEOPLE WALKING IN STREET 0.39 5. (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) STUDENT, MARIUCCIO, SAYING: "I think something has happened and cannot be dismissed so quickly. To say that the responsibility lies neither on the American side nor on the Italian side is absurd. They would have come out of it in a better way with the old trick of blaming even a low-ranking soldier but a total acquittal is strange. I hope Italy will insist on further investigation". 1.07 6. NEWSPAPER STAND/ PAPERS (2 SHOTS) 1.18 7. CU: CORRIERE DELLA SERA NEWSPAPER READING 'THE UNITED STATES IS SAYING: 'WE ARE NOT GUILTY' FOR US IS UNACCEPTABLE.' 1.23 8. CU: LA REPUBBLICA READING: 'CALIPARI: AMERICAN SOLDIERS NOT GUILTY' / IL MANIFESTO: 'THE U.S ACQUITS THEMSELVES 1.33 9. NEWSPAPERS 1.37 10. MAN AT NEWSPAPER STAND 1.42 11. (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) MARIA GRAZIA SAYING: "They want to bury everything in the sand, because the story is too delicate, I think the government should go ahead regardless of the consequences." 2.02 12. PEOPLE BUYING FLOWERS 2.08 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 11th May 2005 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: ROME, ITALY
  • Country: Italy
  • Reuters ID: LVAD0P1JT9ZK7CBZGXQJ8IK1XVSV
  • Story Text: Italians demand further investigation into death of
    top secret agent in Iraq, after U.S administration clears
    soldiers of responsibility for his death.



    U.S. investigators have found that American troops
    who shot dead an Italian agent after he secured the release
    of an abducted journalist did nothing wrong and will not be
    disciplined, an Army official said on Monday (April 26).

    U.S. troops accidentally killed Italian intelligence
    officer Nicola Calipari when they opened fire on a car
    heading for Baghdad airport in which he was escorting
    Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena, who had just been
    released.

    But Italy disagrees with findings in the preliminary
    report by the U.S. military investigators and has balked at
    endorsing it, added the official, who spoke on condition of
    anonymity.

    In Rome, Italians said their government should continue
    investigating the incident.

    "I think something has happened and cannot be dismissed
    so quickly. To say that the responsibility lies neither on
    the American side nor on the Italian side is absurd. They
    would have come out of it in a better way with the old
    trick of blaming even a low-ranking soldier but a total
    acquittal is strange. I hope Italy will insist on further
    investigation", said Mariuccio, a student.

    "They want to bury everything in the sand, because the
    story is too delicate, I think the government should go
    ahead regardless of the consequences", said Maria Grazia.

    March's friendly fire incident has caused tension
    between the United States and Italy, one of Washington's
    staunchest allies in Iraq. Calipari, hailed as an Italian
    national hero, was fatally wounded as he threw his body
    over Sgrena to protect her from a hail of bullets.

    Sgrena, an award-winning journalist, was held hostage
    by insurgents for a month before Calipari masterminded her
    release. She was wounded but survived.

    The Army official said Italy was disputing two factual
    issues in the report: the car's speed as it approached the
    checkpoint; and the nature of communications between the
    Italians and U.S. forces before the incident.

    He said that the soldiers were only complying with
    standard operating procedures for those checkpoints, and
    therefore were not culpable to dereliction of duty charges.

    President George W. Bush expressed regret over
    Calipari's death in a meeting with Italian Prime Minister
    Silvio Berlusconi in Rome on April 7.




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