[Peace-discuss] more on US shootings of freed hostages

[Ricky Baldwin]

This is not a very good article, but it includes some
interesting information on this incident.  Even if
these people weren't targeted, as they suggest, I
think it provides a disturbing picture - once again -
of how terribly easy it is to get yourself shot by US
troops in Iraq today.
-RB

Italian Journalist Rejects U.S. Account 

By MARIA SANMINIATELLI, Associated Press Writer 

ROME - The Italian journalist wounded by American
troops in Iraq after her release by insurgents
rejected the U.S. military's account of the shooting
and declined Sunday to rule out the possibility she
was deliberately targeted.

Meanwhile, an autopsy performed on the agent who died
trying to save Giuliana Sgrena reportedly showed he
was struck in the temple by a single round and died
instantly as the car carrying Sgrena sped to the
Baghdad airport. 

Friday's shooting that wounded the 56-year-old
journalist and killed Italian intelligence officer
Nicola Calipari as they were celebrating her freedom
has fueled anti-American sentiment in a country where
people are deeply opposed to U.S. policy in Iraq. 

But government officials indicated the shootings would
not affect the decision by Italian Premier Silvio
Berlusconi — a strong U.S. ally — to maintain 3,000
troops in Iraq to help secure peace in the country. 

"The military mission must carry on because it
consolidates democracy and liberty in Iraq,"
Communications Minister Maurizio Gasparri was quoted
as saying by the ANSA news agency. "On the other hand,
we must control — but not block — the presence of
civilians and journalists, who must observe rules and
behavior to reduce the risks." 

Sgrena, who works for the communist daily Il
Manifesto, did not rule out that she was targeted,
saying the United States likely disapproved of Italy's
methods to secure her release, although she did not
elaborate. 

Italian officials have not provided details about the
negotiations leading to Sgrena's release Friday after
a month in captivity, but Agriculture Minister
Giovanni Alemanno was quoted as saying it was "very
likely" a ransom was paid. U.S. officials object to
ransoms, saying it encourages further kidnappings. 

"The fact that the Americans don't want negotiations
to free the hostages is known," Sgrena told Sky TG24
television by telephone, her voice hoarse and shaky.
"The fact that they do everything to prevent the
adoption of this practice to save the lives of people
held hostages, everybody knows that. So I don't see
why I should rule out that I could have been the
target." 

Sgrena added that she did not know whether a ransom
was paid. Calipari had led negotiations for her
release. 

The U.S. military has said the car Sgrena was riding
in was speeding, and Americans used hand and arm
signals, flashing white lights and warning shots to
get it to stop at the roadblock. 

But in an interview with Italian La 7 TV, Sgrena said,
"There was no bright light, no signal." She also said
the car was traveling at "regular speed." 

Sgrena also recalled how Calipari died after throwing
himself over her when the shooting broke out as they
were celebrating her freedom on the way to the
airport. 

"I remember only fire," she wrote in Il Manifesto,
which fiercely opposed the war in Iraq. "At that point
a rain of fire and bullets came at us, forever
silencing the happy voices from a few minutes
earlier." 

Sgrena said the driver began shouting that they were
Italian, then "Nicola Calipari dove on top of me to
protect me and immediately, and I mean immediately, I
felt his last breath as he died on me." 

Suddenly, she said, she remembered her captors' words,
when they warned her "to be careful because the
Americans don't want you to return." 

Sgrena wrote that her captors warned her as she was
about to be released not to signal her presence to
anyone, because "the Americans might intervene." She
said her captors blindfolded her and drove her to a
location where she was turned over to agents and they
set off for the airport. 
Calipari's body was returned to Italy late Saturday,
and Berlusconi and President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi
joined Calipari's wife, mother and two children at
Rome's Ciampino Airport to receive it.

An autopsy was performed Sunday, and ANSA quoted
doctors as saying Calipari was struck in the temple by
a single round and died instantly. 

The body lay in state at Rome's Vittoriano monument
and a state funeral was planned for Monday. Calipari
was to be awarded the gold medal of valor for his
heroism. 

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld called Italy's
defense minister, Antonio Martino, "to express the
sorrow of the American administration, and his own
personal sorrow for the death of Nicola Calipari,"
Italy's Defense Ministry said in a statement. The U.S.
military has promised an "aggressive" investigation. 

Italian military officials said two other agents were
wounded, but U.S. officials said it was only one. 
Iraqi politician Younadem Kana told Belgian state TV
Saturday evening that he had "nonofficial" information
that a $1 million ransom was paid for Sgrena's
release, the Apcom news agency reported from Brussels.
The report could not be confirmed. 

Sgrena told Sky TG24 she had no intention of returning
to Iraq. Her captors, she said, made it clear that
"they do not want witnesses and we are all perceived
as possible spies." 

Sgrena was abducted Feb. 4 by gunmen who blocked her
car outside Baghdad University. She was later shown in
a video pleading for her life and demanding that all
foreign troops — including Italian forces — leave
Iraq. 



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