Giuliana Shooting, Questions Raised

Italians are furious about the killing of Italian negotiator Nicola Calipari and the wounding of journalist Giuliana Sgrena and a second intelligence officer Friday by US forces in Iraq.

The three were shot at by US forces as their car approached Baghdad airport shortly after Calipari secured Sgrena's release from kidnappers, who had held the journalist captive for a month.

"Nicola Calipari is becoming a hero in Italy overnight," ITN Rome Correspondent, Fabio Sermonti told the Laura Flanders Show on Air America Radio, Saturday night.

Calipari, said Sermonti, "Was a very experienced member of the anti-mafia police. He was very experienced in the area of hostage-taking, and a very valuable officer."

Crowds gathered to greet Calipari's coffin as it traveled from the Rome airport to the morgue. At the San Remo Music Festival which attracts huge audiences every spring, the music was stopped for first time in years, to broadcast a live, video link to the Rome airport when Nicola touched down.

"There was a standing ovation and tears. It is a really big thing here. Everyone is involved." Sermonti told the Laura Flanders Show.

"Italians want an explanation that's a little bit more serious than the kind of joke we've got that these people were speeding. In that car were some of the most experienced officers in Iraq who know how to deal with a roadblock."

While US military spokespeople allege that Calipari's car was speeding, unidentified, towards an Army checkpoint, Sgrena's life-partner, Pier Scolari, told Italian media that Calipari's car was a few hundred meters from the airport and already past all US checkpoints when the attack began.

Sermonti, who spoke with Scolari, says, further, that "Calipari was speaking in English with someone in the airport telling them to get ready [for Sgrena's arrival] when, just as they reached the airport, without any warning, the [US forces] opened fire."

"They're talking about 300 bullets from different weapons," said Sermonti. US military spokespeople say soldiers fired at the car's engine block. "With heavy weapons, bullets fly all over," responds Sermonti. "From the reconstruction of the events, it's a miracle everyone isn't dead."

In addition to the shrapnel in her shoulder, Sermonti told Air America Radio that Sgrena also sustained an injury to her lung.

According to Scolari, says Sermonti, Giuliana had been warned by her captives that "the Americans didn't want her to get out of Iraq."

At the time of her abduction, Giuliana was heading to an area of Baghdad where witnesses from Fallujah are staying to interview Fallujah refugees about the US assault on their city last year. Says Sermonti:

"She had some information about the use of illegal weapons by US forces in Fallujah that was very sensitive. A very hot topic. There were rumors of some use of chemicals and a number of weapons that are not legal -- like [napalm] and phosphorus."

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has been a staunch ally of the US on Iraq. He defied widespread public opposition to the invasion and sent 3,000 Italian troops. Now, faced with an irate populace, Berlusconi has taken the rare step of summoning US ambassador Mel Sembler to his office. According to reports, he demanded that the US 'leave no stone unturned' in investigating the incident and the US President, in a phone call, promised exactly that.

On the US front, pressure for a serious inquiry has yet to build, and the deadly attack on Sgrena's car grabbed little attention on the Sunday morning political talk shows on TV. President Bush made no mention of the Nicola killing in his weekly radio address to the nation. His first response was to dispatch an acting undersecretary of State to express condolences to Italy's Ambassador.

Laura Flanders is host of The Laura Flanders Show on Air America Radio.`

© 2005 Laura Flanders