Reports: Rome prosecutors to charge U.S. soldier with murdering Italian agent in Iraq
By: Associated Press | ∞
ROME -- Italian prosecutors investigating the killing of an Italian secret service agent at a checkpoint in Iraq plan to charge a U.S. soldier with murder and attempted murder, Italian media reported Tuesday.
U.S. gunfire killed Nicola Calipari near the checkpoint on March 4, as the agent was heading to Baghdad airport in a car with an Italian journalist who had just been released after being held hostage by militants.
The ANSA and Apcom news agencies reported Tuesday that prosecutors planned to charge the soldier with murdering Calipari and attempting to murder the agent driving the car as well as the journalist, Giuliana Sgrena, who were both wounded during the incident. State TV news Tg1, and private SKY TG 24 television news also carried the report.
The prosecutor in charge of the case, Franco Ionta, could not be reached for comment Tuesday evening. A Pentagon spokesman, Lt. Col. Barry Venable, said the Pentagon had not seen any charges actually filed and declined to comment.
An Italian government report in May blamed U.S. military authorities for failing to signal there was a military checkpoint ahead on the road. It also contended that stress, inexperience and fatigue played a role in the shooting.
The Americans insisted that the car was going fast enough to alarm the soldiers. The Italians have said the vehicle was traveling slowly.
Police and ballistic experts assigned by Rome prosecutors to examine the car have concluded it was traveling slower than the U.S. military claimed. They agreed with U.S. findings that only one soldier fired at the car.
The shooting angered Italians, already largely opposed to the war in Iraq, and led many to step up calls for withdrawing the Italian contingent. Premier Silvio Berlusconi, who sent some 3,000 troops to Iraq after Saddam Hussein's ouster, insisted the incident would not affect troop levels or Italy's friendship with Washington.
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Lewis wrote on Jan 18, 2006 3:47 PM:It was obvious that the Americans were reckless but I doubt that it was a premeditated murder attempt. The thing is Americans are not trusted with good reason. There should have been no checkpoints to begin with and especially not "floating" checkpoints. The Americans should be punished but I don't know what would be appropriate
Ben wrote on Jan 18, 2006 8:31 PM:"What's obvious, is the lack of force used. I think a simple shot of a few LAW's would have been a better idea.
mallee wrote on Jan 18, 2006 9:59 PM:It seems pointless to prosecute a lowly grunt, who was following orders, and may have been operating with any kind of false impression implanted in his mind by his superior officers. This type of prosecution gives creedence to the craven and false "a few bad apples" spin that the real criminals in the US are attempting to hide behind.
Gepay wrote on Jan 20, 2006 10:23 PM:What is clear when one reads Sgrena's side of the story that the Americans deliberately fired on her car. Some have argued that the intention was to kill Calipari and not Sgrena. If that was the case, then they succeeded in their object. Otherwise the event makes no sense. The Americans appear to be killing journalists in Iraq. Why wouldn't they kill an intelligence agent that had angered them?
Linebacker wrote on Jan 20, 2006 10:39 PM:Well, she has changed her story a lot. Maybe she should think of what it's like to be suicide-bombed and judge again.
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