| Italy's efforts to mend relations with the US were under strain yesterday after Washington criticised the government in Rome for securing the release of five Taliban prisoners in exchange for an Italian journalist kidnapped in Afghanistan. A senior US administration official said on Tuesday the deal had taken the US by surprise and would increase the risks facing US and other western troops in Afghanistan. "Given the increased threat created for all of us who have people on the ground in places like Afghanistan, we expect that concessions will not be made in the future," the US State Department said. The UK Foreign Office made similar criticisms of Italy. |