ROME, 23 December 2005 — A US soldier is under investigation for his alleged role in the March killing of an Italian secret service agent in Baghdad, a prosecutor and news reports said yesterday.
Rome prosecutors are investigating the March 4 death of Nicola Calipari, killed by US fire near a checkpoint as he headed to Baghdad airport after securing the release of an Italian journalist who had been held hostage. Prosecutor Franco Ionta confirmed reports in Italian news agencies ANSA and Apcom, but refused to discuss details.
The reports said prosecutors were considering charging the soldier with murder. He is believed to have been the only one to fire at the car Calipari was traveling in.
According to Apcom, the prosecutors are also considering charging the soldier with attempted murder concerning the other two people in the car: The freed hostage, Giuliana Sgrena, and another secret service agent who was at the wheel. Both were wounded.
The US Embassy in Rome declined to identify the soldier or comment on the report.
Calipari’s killing strained relations between Rome and Washington. The two countries conducted a joint investigation, but differed over aspects of the shooting and issued separate conclusions.
The US report cleared the soldiers of any blame, and insisted that the car, a rented Toyota Corolla, was going fast enough to alarm the soldiers. The Italian government report, issued in May, blamed US military authorities for failing to signal there was a military checkpoint ahead on the road, and contended that stress, inexperience and fatigue played a role in the shooting. The Italians have also consistently said the vehicle was traveling slowly on the dark, rain-slicked road.
Separately, Rome prosecutors went ahead with their probe. Police and ballistic experts who were assigned by the Rome prosecutors to examine the car have concluded the Toyota was traveling slower than the US military claimed.
