andare a "cena" per la strada piu rischiosa dell´Iraq e de notte non so .....

American troops who mistakenly killed an Italian secret agent in Iraq fired from a checkpoint set up to boost security for the U.S. ambassador who was on his way to dinner with a general, a U.S. official said on Friday.


U.S. embassy spokesman Bob Callahan said Ambassador John Negroponte was traveling on the airport road to meet General George Casey, commander of multinational forces in Iraq, at a U.S. base next to Baghdad airport.

"The mobile checkpoint was set up for the security of the ambassador who was on his way to dinner at Camp Victory with General Casey," Callahan said. "This was a mobile checkpoint that was set up on a temporary basis."

U.S. soldiers killed intelligence agent Nicola Calipari on the road to Baghdad airport on Friday night as he threw his body over freed Italian hostage Giuliana Sgrena to protect her from a hail of bullets. She was wounded.

Callahan said Negroponte usually traveled to the airport by helicopter but a hailstorm forced him to go by motorcade.

"The ambassador traveled past the checkpoint at about 7:30 that night and I believe the shooting took place later," he said.

The U.S. military says the Italian car was speeding toward the checkpoint and ignored warning shots, an explanation rejected by Italian government ministers and the driver of the car.

Sgrena has said U.S. forces may have deliberately targeted her because Washington opposed Italy's policy of dealing with kidnappers. U.S. officials called that claim absurd and said it was a tragic accident.

The shooting has sparked tension between Italy and the United States and put pressure on Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to take a hard line with President Bush (news - web sites), who has promised a full investigation.

Calipari's death was followed by a national outpouring of grief in Italy, where most people opposed the U.S.-led war in Iraq.

Iraqis often complain that U.S. troops are too quick to fire from checkpoints that are difficult to spot.


http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/iraq_italy_shooting_dc&cid=564&ncid=1618