U.S., Italy Spar Over Iraq Shoot

Pentagon Draft Says Soldiers Followed Instructions; Italians Upset

(CBS/AP) 
The Italians' refusal to endorse the conclusions would hurt the report's credibility in Italy, which sent 3,000 troops to Iraq after the U.S.-led invasion.

The Italian officer, Nicola Calipari, died trying to shield a hostage he had just helped free from her insurgent captors. He was killed when U.S. soldiers at the checkpoint fired on his car as it approached them. The hostage and an Italian officer who was driving were wounded.

From the first hours after the shooting, Rome and Washington have differed over what led to the killing.

Soldiers at the checkpoint said the car was speeding toward the checkpoint and the driver ignored warnings to stop. According to the U.S. 3rd Infantry Division, the soldiers "attempted to warn the driver to stop by hand and arm signals, flashing white lights, and firing warning shots in front of the car."

"When the driver didn't stop, the soldiers shot into the engine block which stopped the vehicle, killing one and wounding two others," it said.

The driver and the ex-hostage, journalist Giuliana Sgrena, have insisted the car wasn't speeding and that the soldiers gave no warning. At the time of the shooting, they were driving to the Baghdad airport after negotiations led to Sgrena's release.

At a press conference, Sgrena and her editor claimed the killing of Calipari was no accident, reports Castelfranco. They said they wanted the truth about the incident and that they wanted to know who gave the order to shoot on the car.

Writing on the front page of the communist daily Il Manifesto, which sent her to Iraq, Sgrena denounced the U.S. conclusions of no-blame as a "slap" for Berlusconi.

"It's enough to see the car," Sgrena wrote in Il Manifesto. "The front windshield is intact, while the side windows and the one behind are shattered."

Italian officials are going to get a closer look at the car the Italian intelligence officer was driving, reports Castelfranco. The Toyota was being brought to Rome, where Italian experts will begin ballistic examination on Wednesday to reconstruct how the shooting took place that night. Italians had been asking to examine the car since the incident occurred.

Sgrena's lawyer says there are fears the car has been tampered with, Castelfranco added.

The senior U.S. defense official declined to describe any determinations the investigation has made about the car's speed and other disputed issues.

Another issue is to what degree, if any, the Italians coordinated their rescue operation with U.S. forces in the area.

In the days after the shooting, the top U.S. general in Iraq, Gen. George Casey, ordered a review of violent incidents at checkpoints to avoid any future mistakes. The shooting took place just a few days after a Bulgarian soldier was killed in a possible friendly fire shooting at another checkpoint in Iraq.