ROME (AP) -- Prosecutors have requested the indictment of a U.S. soldier over the shooting of an Italian intelligence agent at a checkpoint in Iraq last year, a prosecutor said Monday. | Let me think.....ummmm, no |
Authorities were seeking the indictment on charges of murder and attempted murder, the official said on condition of anonymity because of a new law allowing only the chief prosecutor to speak to the media.
Prosecutor Erminio Amelio previously has identified the U.S. soldier as Mario Lozano. Local newspapers have reported that Lozano is from New York. From Wikipedia: Mario Lozano is a soldier in the US Army, who acquired notoriety after killing Nicola Calipari in an incident on Route Irish. The United States sought to protect his anonymity, but a blunder in data security by the Coalition Forces in Iraq revealed the names of all personnel involved in the shooting (the PDF report, written with Microsoft's word processor, containing all the names not even crypted accessible on demand). Lozano was a resident of the Bronx and Specialist in the First Battalion of the 69th Infantry Regiment, New York State National Guard and of the 3rd Infantry Division, based in Manhattan, New York. | How ironic is that? An Italian 'journalist', driven by an Italian agent, tries to run a roadblock in Baghdad, and gets shot by Mario from da Bronx. |
Fabrizio Cardinali, Lozano's court-appointed lawyer, said last week he expected his client would be tried in absentia for murder and attempted murder. Officials at the U.S. Embassy could not immediately be reached for comment.
The death of Nicola Calipari by U.S. gunfire strained relations between Italy and the United States. The agent was heading by car to Baghdad airport on March 4, 2005, shortly after securing the release of an Italian journalist who had been kidnapped in the Iraqi capital when he was shot at the checkpoint. Another agent, who was driving the car, and the journalist, Giuliana Sgrena, were wounded.
Italy and the United States issued separate reports on the incident, after failing to agree on a shared version of events. U.S. authorities have said the vehicle was traveling fast, alarming soldiers, who feared an insurgent attack.
Italian officials claimed the car was traveling at normal speed (well, for italian's) and blamed U.S. military for failing to signal there was a checkpoint. |