U.S., Italy Spar Over Iraq Shoot

(CBS/AP)  American soldiers who shot and killed an Italian intelligence officer in a friendly fire incident in Baghdad generally followed instructions for dealing with potential threats, a U.S. investigation is expected to conclude.

But the probe into the March 4 shooting is also expected to raise concerns about the rules of engagement at a Baghdad checkpoint, a senior U.S. defense official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the report has not been finished.

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, acknowledged Tuesday that Italian officials who participated in the investigation have still not signed off on the report's conclusions. But at a Pentagon briefing, they provided no details about the report.

"My latest information is that they have not come to a final agreement on a joint report," Rumsfeld said of U.S. and Italian investigators.

"It's an investigation, it was done together, intimately, and I think that we'll just have to wait and see what they come out with," he added.

Myers said the final report will be issued in Baghdad.

According to Italian news reports, Italian officials disagreed with the U.S. findings and were refusing to sign it. Ben Duffy, a U.S. Embassy spokesman in Rome, said the United States was still hoping for a combined report.

In Italy, members of the opposition party said they were disgusted with what appear to be the results of the probe allegedly concluding that American soldiers bore no responsibility, reports CBS News Correspondent Sabina Castelfranco. Some said its conclusions were expected and are a slap in the face by the U.S. to the Italian government. They said Rome must demand the truth. Others said the outcome is totally unacceptable and insulting. They said it's offensive to the memory of the killed intelligence officer and an act of arrogance by the Americans.

One opposition leader, Giuseppe Fioroni, denounced any absolution of the blame as an "unacceptable act of arrogance toward Italy."

In response to the public outcry in Italy over the reports, Italian Primer Minister Silvio Berlusconi apologized for what he called "an unfortunate leak" suggesting that the investigation into the shooting of an Italian agent by U.S. soldiers was completed.

Berlusconi assured Parliament on Tuesday that the U.S.-led probe into the killing of an Italian intelligence agent in Iraq is not over.

He spoke shortly after the U.S. ambassador to Italy met with the premier's top aide to see if crucial differences over the investigation could be worked out. The government "will speak at the opportune moment," briefing Parliament when the U.S.-Italian probe is done, Berlusconi said.

Fifty opposition senators wrote to U.S. senators to urge American authorities to cooperate with Italian investigators and not "spoil" U.S.-Italian friendship.

The rules of engagement direct soldiers to use warnings, then deadly force, against potential threats as they approach, and are designed to avoid mistaken shootings while also protecting soldiers from suicide bombers.

The U.S. official, who spoke Monday, left open whether soldiers at the temporary checkpoint during the shooting could face criticism for their performance. However, a conclusion that they followed orders would make it less likely they would be accused of making significant mistakes.

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