I was targeted by US troops, says ex-hostage

Ms Sgrena arrives back in Rome after being shot in
Baghdad by US troops
Rome :
March 07, 2005
From: Agence France-Presse
News.com.au

Rift ... Ms Sgrena arrives back in Rome after being shot in Baghdad by US troops / AP THE Italian journalist wounded by US troops shortly after her month-long kidnap ordeal ended has fanned a growing diplomatic rift between Rome and Washington by suggesting the US soldiers deliberately tried to kill her.

Giuliana Sgrena, wounded when the convoy taking her to safety was riddled by US fire near Baghdad airport on Friday, said today she may have been a target because the Americans opposed negotiations with her kidnappers.
"Everyone knows that the Americans don't want hostages to be freed by negotiations, and for that reason, I don't see why I should rule out that I was their target," Sgrena told Sky Italia news channel.

The comment comes amid fears that Friday's incident, in which Italy's top intelligence officer in Iraq, Nicola Calipari, was killed, could lead to a full-scale diplomatic rift between the two allies.

"The incident could have very serious political consequences," Italy's La Stampa daily said in a front page editorial, adding that relations between the two governments had "suffered an immediate deterioration".

Hour by hour, Washington's version of events was unravelling, the Turin-based newspaper said.

The US military said their forces had given ample warning to the driver of Sgrena's car, which they said was approaching at speed when they opened fire, but Sgrena said they had not been travelling fast.

US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld called his Italian counterpart, Antonio Martino, "to express the regret of the American administration and his personal regret" over Calipari's death, Italy's defence ministry said today.

Washington has pledged a full inquiry into the incident and President George W. Bush has personally expressed his regret over what happened.

Mr Martino said he was sure that "the ongoing investigation will fully clarify the circumstances which led to the tragic end of this incident".

Meanwhile, hundreds of mourners lined up outside the Vittoriano national monument in central Rome to pay their respects to Calipari, whose body was repatriated late yesterday.

The crowd - many carrying flowers and waving Italian flags - applauded as his coffin was borne inside the monument where it was to lie in state until a funeral with full military honours tomorrow.

Italy's President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi hailed Calipari as a hero who had used his body to shield Sgrena after the US patrol opened fire. Sgrena was wounded in the shoulder and was being treated at a military hospital in Rome.

Friday's incident is likely to rekindle debate in Italy over when to withdraw its 3000-strong military contingent from Iraq, the key condition laid down by Sgrena's kidnappers for her release.

Much of the country opposed the decision by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in June 2003 to send troops.

Ruling party member Raffaele Costa said today parliament, which is due to debate an extension to the mission on March 14, should set a clear date for withdrawal.

"It's time now that the responsible political forces define a way out that everybody can agree on."

Communist leader Fausto Bertinotti said withdrawal of the troops would be a "act of public health, of real and political hygiene for our country".

While Sgrena's suspicion she may have been a target for US firepower was not generally shared by Italy's press today, an indignant La Stampa said the US government had been informed about her impending release.

"And the presence of an American colonel at Baghdad airport along with the Italian officers who were waiting for Sgrena and her liberators, demonstrates that the operation was being conducted in harmony," the newspaper said.

It said, however, that a ransom was "almost certainly" paid to the kidnappers, even though any payment was "very probably" opposed by the Americans.

Sgrena, a 56-year-old correspondent for the Italian communist daily Il Manifesto, confirmed today she had been voluntarily released by her kidnappers, but said she had no knowledge of any ransom payment.

With most attention on the dramatic aftermath, little has been said about the circumstances of her release. Sgrena's account in her newspaper made it clear, however, that no force was involved, and that her kidnappers drove her to an obviously pre-arranged handover point.

"I was targeted by US troops, says ex-hostage" .........Oh really,
If she was TARGETED she would be DEAD simple as that.