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Giuliana Sgrena

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Rama (talk | contribs) at 08:33, 14 March 2005 (No no, we do want them, we just have to find the optimally informative words. "Capitalist" could be said of most newspapers, while "centrist" is consistant with the article about "die Zeit"). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Giuliana Sgrena (December 20, 1948, Masera (VB), Italy), an Italian journalist who works for the centrist Die Zeit (Germany) and for the leftist newspaper Il Manifesto (Italy), was kidnapped in Iraq February 4 2005. On March 4, 2005, she was released from captivity, and while in transit to Baghdad International Airport the car she was travelling in with Nicola Calipari, an Italian intelligence officer who had helped secure her release, came under fire from U.S. occupation forces. Sgrena was wounded and Calipari was killed. The event caused an international outcry.

File:Giuliana sgrena.jpg
Giuliana Sgrena

Career

Sgrena studied at Milan, and is a well known pacifist. In 1980, she worked for Guerra e Pace, a weekly publication edited by Michelangelo Notarianni. She is a war correspondent and has reported from conflicts such as the Algerian Civil War, and from Somalia and Afghanistan. She joined Il Manifesto in 1988 dealing with stories from the Horn of Africa, the Maghreb and the Middle East. She is a campaigner for women's rights and is particularly concerned with the conditions of women under Islam, and has written a book on the topic.

Like a large majority of her fellow Italians she is against the war in Iraq, and was in Baghdad covering the bombing of that city. For that work, on return to Italy she was awared the title Cavaliere del Lavoro.

The kidnapping

 
Screenshot of Giuliana Sgrena on the Iraqi video

Ms. Sgrena was kidnapped outside Baghdad University by gunmen in February 2005. Sgrena had told veteran war reporter Harald Doornbos that she was in no danger from Iraqi insurgents saying that Doornbos did not “understand the situation. We are anti-imperialists, anti-capitalists, communists, the Iraqis only kidnap American sympathizers, the enemies of the Americans have nothing to fear.” She was later shown in a video pleading for her life and requesting that all foreign troops leave Iraq.

The ill-fated rescue

On the evening of March 4, 2005, around 20:55, the car leading Giuliana Sgrena, along with two agents of the Sismi, the Italian Military Intelligence service, was fired upon by U.S. troops while on the way to Baghdad International Airport. Nicola Calipari, who had negotiated the liberation of the other eight Italian hostages, was killed (while protecting Giuliana Sgrena with his body, according to a declaration by Sgrena herself). Giuliana Sgrena was hit, in the shoulder according to the U.S. version, but in an upper limb, according to Italian journalists.Template:Fn

According to a senior U.S. military official, the car was traveling at speeds of more than 100 mph.Template:Fn He said that troops manning the checkpoint also noted that car almost lost control several times before the shooting as the car hydroplaned through large puddles. In the U.S. version of events, it was only after the American troops tried to warn the occupants of the vehicle to slow down via hand gestures, flashing lights and firing warning shots, that the troops finally fired into the engine block of the vehicle in an attempt to disable it.

This version of the events contrasts markedly with a version subsequently referred to the Italian Parliament by the foreign minister Gianfranco Fini. Speaking in the Camera dei Deputati on 8 March 2005, Fini stated that there had been no roadblock, that no warning was given, that the car was travelling at 40 km/h (about 25 mph) and that Calipari (one of Italy's most experienced intelligence agents with a history of successful operations in Iraq) not only had previously made all the necessary arrangements and had obtained all the necessary clearances, but had also spoken to US and Italian authorities from his cellphone just minutes before the attack. Fini's version of the event is based on the testimony of a second Italian intelligence agent who was driving the car.

This contradicts the statements of General George Casey, commander of US forces in Iraq, who said that the Italian government had not given the US advance warning about the convoy carrying Ms Sgrena. "I personally do not have any indication of that, even on a preliminary basis," General Casey said. Giuliana Sgrena's version of the events also only mentions the contact between Calipari and the Italian authorities but says nothing about any contact with the American authorities whilst she was with him. US forces confiscated cell and satellite phones from the car's occupants in the immediate aftermath of the shooting.

General George Casey's are backed by the statements General Mario Marioli, Italy's top military commander in Iraq. Marioli informed U.S. officials that Calipari and the other Italian officer were there, but gave no information about the specifics of Calipari 's operation.

"The shooting was not justified by the speed of the vehicle", said Giuliana Sgrena to the Italian News agency Ansa. "Our vehicle rode a normal speed which should not have induced misunderstanding", she told Il Manifesto. "It was not a checkpoint but a patrol which fired upon us, right after having illuminated us with a projector", according to Giuliana Sgrena and a wounded Italian agent. Template:Fn The Italian agent who was driving the car also denied that the car was traveling at an excessive speed and refused to stop at a checkpoint: "We were driving normally. It was a patrol, in an armored vehicle, which fired without warning".

File:Sgrenacar.jpg
This is the car used in the rescue being transported back to Italy as part of the investigation. Sgrena claimed that 300 to 400 rounds had been fired at the vehicle.

Giuliana Sgrena claimed that US soldiers and a US tank had fired on the vehicle 300 to 400 times. A fellow journalist at Il Manifesto claimed that this was a murder attempt by the US forces, allegedly motivated in order to discourage further hostage-rescue attempts. Sgrena claims that her kidnappers, just before releasing her, had warned her that the American forces would be a danger to her.

Pier Scolari, Sgrena's life partner, stated that "Giuliana had information and the U.S. military did not want her alive."Template:Fn "The Americans and the Italians knew that the car was arriving." He claims that Sgrena had detailed information about the used of banned weapons during the recent operations in Falluja. Sgrena has written about alleged use of chemical and even nuclear weapons in FallujaTemplate:Fn. Scolari went on to speculate that they were at 700 metres from the airport, which implies that they had crossed all the checkpoints. "The whole shooting was heard live by the Presidency of the Council, who was on the phone with one of the agents. Then the U.S. military confiscated and turned off the phones", said Scolari, who was then at the Palazzo Chigi.Template:Fn General Casey said that Calipari’s vehicle had not gone through any prior checkpoints.

Calipari was killed while he was trying to cover Sgrena with his body. Sgrena and reportedly two bodyguards were wounded. Sgrena was treated by US Army medics on the scene and medivaced to a US Army field hospital shortly after the incident.Template:Fn US Army medics also treated the injured bodyguard on the scene but he refused a medical evacuation for further assistance.Template:Fn The US military did not disclose their whereabouts later. Sgrena arrived Rome a day after the fatal incident.

Aftermath

Harsh criticism emitted from Italian government officials:

  • The Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said, "I believe we must have an explanation for such a serious incident, for which someone must take the responsibility." He has long been an ally of George W. Bush.
  • Roberto Calderoli, Italian minister of reforms, stated that several incidents had already occurred in the liberation of Giuliana Sgrena, the shooting being only the last of them. "The car absolutely had to be stopped", he said on Friday. "It wasn't chance which killed the Italian agent".
  • Mirko Tremaglia, Italian undersecretary for foreign affairs, said to the Italian press agency ANSA that "The Americans must be firmly reminded to respect human and civil rules"
  • Gianni Alemanno, the minister of Agriculture, said that "We want the culprits to be punished, and we demand an explanation from the Americans"; he added "We are faithful allies, but we must not let anyone think that we are subordinates"
  • Carlo Giovanardi, Minister for the relations with the parliament, said that he did not believe one word of the version presented by the U.S. Army.

Leading figures of the Italian left-wing opposition and members of the right-wing rulling party alike have renewed criticism of Italy's participation in the occupation of Iraq:

  • Romano Prodi, former President of the European Commission and now leader of Italy's opposition, stated "57 million Italians united in waiting for Giuliana Sgrena's liberation have a right to know what happened".
  • Fausto Bertinotti, leader of "Communist Refoundation", said that "after the extremely grave fact of Nicola Calipari's death, pulling [Italian] troops out of Iraq is an act of public sanity"
  • Piero Fassino, leader of the Democratic Party of the Left, said that "It's not fate that pulls the trigger of a machine gun"
  • Raffaele Costa, member of Parliament in the ruling party, said Sunday March 6 that parliament, which is due to debate an extension to the mission on March 14, should set a clear date for withdrawal.Template:Fn

It is easily foreseeable that this case, which has seen an unharmed hostage being released by Iraqi kidnappers and almost killed by American troops, will strengthen the already large opposition to the presence of Italian troops in Iraq.

A White House spokesman issued condolences for the tragedy and vowed an investigation.

On the 6th of March, Giuliana Sgrena had not ruled out that she might have been deliberately targeted, a consequence of the United States' disapproval of the means of her liberation. "The fact that they do everything to prevent the adoption of this practice to save the lives of people held hostages, everybody knows that. So I don't see why I should rule out that I could have been the target", she told Sky TG24. The White House responded to this, denying that US troops would specifically target civilians, and stating that the zone is "a dangerous road, and it is a combat zone that our coalition forces are in. Often, they have to make split second decisions to protect their own security."Template:Fn Pier Scolari said "I hope the Italian government does something because either this was an ambush, as I think, or we are dealing with imbeciles or terrorized kids who shoot at anyone"Template:Fn

On the 8th of March, the Newspaper La Repubblica stated that the U.S. command had not been informed about the Sgrena's liberation operation. Gianfranco Fini, chief of Italian diplomacy, repeated that "it seems necessary to demand that light be made on all shadowy points" and "require and obtain that the culprits be punished". Mr Fini also underlined the differences between the Italian and US version of the gunning: "The reconstitution of the event does not entirely match the one published by US authorities" he said; "our version is different on at least two points: the speed of the car and the series of shootings which followed the stop of the car". The car "was not over 40 km/h and was illuminated from inside to facilitate control and allow phone calls to be made". "When a strong source of light, like a fannal, was turned on a few tens of meters from the car, it slowed down until it was almost stoped, and the shooting began", said Fini. He said that Nicola Calipari had made "all necessary contacts" with US authorities in Bagdad on the very day of his arrival, thus denying the information of La Repubblica. He also said that the theory of a deliberate attack against Sgrena was "totally unfounded"; he finally repeated his wish that Calipari's death would not induce "unnecessary anti-US feelings" into the Italian public opinion.Template:Fn

Autopsies of Calipari's body show that he was struck by a single bullet in the temple.

The checkpoint — if checkpoint there was, since this has been contested by the Italian government — was said to be manned by the U.S. 10th Mountain Division, a light infantry unit. The identity of the soldier who fired remains unknown. The US is not a member of the International Criminal Court. The soldier will not be tried in a non-US court if he should face a trial.

The standards of US troops at checkpoints has been criticised in the past by human rights associations, and is now under scrutiny.

References

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