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Sgrena operation 'kept from US'
US forces might not have known that slain Italian secret agent Nicola Calipari was in Iraq to secure a hostage's freedom, Italian papers say. Calipari was killed by US troops' fire while escorting journalist Giuliana Sgrena by car to Baghdad airport. But the press quotes an Italian general who liaised between US forces and Italian intelligence as saying he did not know Calipari was on a rescue bid. His report is now in the hands of Rome prosecutors investigating the killing. According to newspaper La Repubblica, Gen Mario Marioli helped the two Italian secret service agents obtain a special badge from the coalition forces on their arrival in Baghdad. But Gen Marioli, who is the coalition forces' second-in-command, reportedly was unaware that the officers were on a mission to free Ms Sgrena, and so the information he passed on to US officials was incomplete. Gen Marioli's testimony is crucial because he is the man who was keeping the US forces informed of the car's arrival before the fatal shooting, in which a US patrol killed the secret service agent and injured Ms Sgrena and a second officer. Gen Marioli's version, as reported by the papers, also contradicts a reconstruction by the Italian government and Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who said the US military had been advised that Ms Sgrena was on board the car.
The US military have said they had no knowledge of the rescue mission. Meanwhile, it has emerged that the US had set up makeshift checkpoints along the road to the airport the night of the fatal shooting because the outgoing US ambassador, John Negroponte, was travelling on the same road. Italian media have been speculating that Italy might have deliberately kept the mission wrapped in secrecy because the US did not approve of the ongoing negotiations with the kidnappers. The US-led coalition has launched an investigation into the shooting with the participation of Italian officials. The inquiry is led by Gen Peter Vangjel, and is expected to take up to four weeks. Additional: (AGI) - Rome, Italy, Mar 11 - The investigation by Rome's public prosecutor's office on the homicide of Sismi agent Nicola Calipari and the attempted homicide of journalist Giuliana Sgrena and the Carabinieri major who was driving the car shot by 'friendly fire' could be delayed due to inevitable bureaucratic affairs. The Toyota Corolla, which the US military authorities made available to Italian ones so that once transported to Rome it could be examined by ballistic experts appointed by the prosecutor, could stay for some time longer in Iraqi territory. In fact, it appears that the vehicle on which the three were riding will not leave Baghdad, under US control, due to the making of the joint Italy-USA commission established to shed light on last week's occurrence. Public Prosecutors Franco Ionta, Erminio Amelio and Pietro Saviotti hoped to be able to have the car by this week. The three telephones that Calipari and the other Sismi agent had were recovered. The verification of their contents should be started soon even though it will have to be understood if Italian intelligence will tag the contents a state secret. Finally, the public prosecution's examination and the report of Italian Army General Mario Marioli, according to whom USA did not know that the objective of Calipari's was to free Sgrena. The report of the local Sismi chief in Baghdad is still missing. His hearing, with all the precaution of the case, is in the program of the magistrates. (AGI) More: In interviews published Friday, Sgrena said that no light was flashed at the vehicle and that the shots were not fired in front of the car. "It's not true that they shot into the engine," she told Corriere della Sera, adding that the shooting came "from the right and from behind." In a parliament speech earlier this week, Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini said photos of the vehicle, which is still in Iraq, show that the fire "hit the right side of the car."
Posted by: Steve 2005-03-11 |
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