US, Italian dispute deepens

2005-05-02 13:58

Rome - Censored parts of a US military report on the shooting of an Italian intelligence officer in Baghdad have disclosed that US forces had communication problems at the time, an Italian newspaper reported on Monday.

If confirmed, the report would deepen a dispute between Rome and Washington as Italy prepares to produce its own account later on Monday of the circumstances behind the fatal shooting.

The censored 42-page report by the US military cleared troops who shot and killed Nicola Calipari, 51, as he shepherded a freed Italian hostage to Baghdad airport on March 4.

Italy and the US conducted a joint investigation into the affair but could not reach agreement on its conclusions.

The US version, published on Saturday, exonerated US forces over the incident, which occurred shortly after Calipari had helped free journalist Guiliana Sgrena, and has caused a deep rift between Washington and Rome, one of the chief allies of the United States in the Iraq war and occupation.

The controversy deepened on Monday when the Italian newspaper La Repubblica put on its internet site parts of the US report which had been blacked out. Using computer cut and paste facilities, it managed to restore the deleted sections.

These give the names and ranks of those involved in the incident and disclose that the US officer in charge of liaison had problems of communication with "VOIP" (voice over internet protocol - a type of telephone contact via the internet).

The officer concerned did not use an alternative form of communication and as a result information was not passed on between units.

The US report found: "There were a number of unrelated events that had a role in the incident. These were: (1) bad weather forcing a VIP to convoy on Route Irish (the airport road) that evening vice (instead of) the preferred method of travelling by helicopter; (2) communications problems involving a unit that caused the soldiers to be left in position longer than expected; (3) the recovery of Ms Sgrena being pushed back daily, for several days, to 4 March 2005; (4) the Italians did not know the soldiers were at the on-ramp, and were not expecting any such roadblocks; and (5) the soldiers did not know the Italians were travelling to BIAP (airport)."

Another deleted paragraph suggests that "the use of additional non-lethal measures (e.g., spike strips, temporary speed bumps, and wire) be emplaced to slow down or stop vehicles before the use of disabling shots.

The US report stated that "it can be positively stated that the US military was totally unaware of the recovery and transport of Ms Sgrena on 4 March 2005 until after the shooting incident had occurred.

"Not coordinating with US personnel was a conscious decision on the part of the Italians as they considered the hostage recovery an intelligence mission and a national issue," it added.

- AFP