Tuesday, March 08, 2005
Rome, March 8 2005

Giuliana Sgrena, the Italian journalist kidnapped by the group “Mujaheddin Without Frontiers” on February 4 was freed by a task force of secret agents sent by the Italian government on March 4.
She returned to work at the “Il Manifesto” office in Rome but will not go back to Baghdad again, because, as she said, “they don’t want us there”.
One of the agents in the car was killed by the “friendly fire” of the American troops at a checkpoint on the way to the airport in Baghdad.
According to official sources from the United States army, the car driven by the Italian agents was speeding on the way to the airport and did not stop at the checkpoint after repeated warnings.
This is the reason why the US troops opened fire on the vehicle.
The American army also pointed out that they were not aware of the Italian mission intended to rescue Giuliana Sgrena. That puts responsibility for what happened on Nicola Calipari and his team and explains how the Italians failed in advising the allies about the operation.
On the other hand, Mrs.Sgrena said that the car was not speeding, no one warned the convoy to stop and the driver was shouting to the US troops “We are Italians”. In a telephone interview with Sky TG 24 TV, she also claimed, "The fact that the Americans don't want negotiations to free the hostages is known," and "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 shouldn't assume that I could have been the target."
Who is liyng? And why?
Nicola Calipari, the Italian secret agent, received a bullet in his head while trying to cover the journalist with his body and died instantly, as reported by Sgrena herself .
Born in Reggio Calabria, he was married and had two sons, a thirteen year-old boy and a daughter of 19.
A law graduate, he worked for the Italian police for over twenty years, starting from the position of chief of the mobile squad in Calabria. He was threatened with death by the local mafia and had to move to Australia along with his family for three months until the criminals were arrested.
He eventually was promoted to director of the Roman narcotics police and vice-chief of the mobile squad there.
In 1997 he was the executive of the interprovincial Criminalpol for Umbria, Lazio and Abruzzo.
He joined the “Sismi” (Italian secret services) after bening involved in the immigration office for a period.
He previously freed other hostages in Iraq, the most recent being the two Italian volunteers, Simona Pari and Simona Torretta.
They described him as an extremely talkative and happy person who said to them, “Hey I am Nicola, I’m here and you're free now” or “We are heading to Rome, you’ll be safe there”.
Sgrena said that he was a source of happiness, constantly talking and keeping up morale.
She said that when the bullet hit her (she is wounded on a shoulder) Calipari was already dead in her arms. He did not have time to say one last word.
At Nicola Calipari’s funeral today ( 07/ 03/ 2005) in the “Verano” historical cemetery of Rome, people were not only sad, they were angry too.
No one was talking about politics or the Americans or Iraq, they were just staring at the ground and mumbling about something.
The son of the Sismi agent is just a thirteen year-old boy but he wasn’t crying at the funeral.
He had the expression of someone who has been forced to grow up in two days; his figure rensembled an older person too.
His has his father’s eyes, but from now on, only some medals of honour and a square in the center of the Italian capital will replace this person in his life.
Rosa Maria, the wife of the hero, was instead crying along with her daughter, a nineteen year-old girl and Calipari’s elderly mother.
I walked toward the military area of the cemetery with two sicilian guys who came to see the grave of the “hero”.
They said they didn’d understand what happened and why in the world American troops shot against the Italian convoy. Were they afraid? Was it an accident? Did they do it purposely? I wasn’t able to give them answer, just other questions, but when I said I was there on account of BNN they asked me to write that they want to know more.
We know that the way to the airport in Baghdad is extremely dangerous and that American troops get around with armored vans shooting at every car that gets too close to the white warning light mounted on the back of these vehicles.
We also know that according to the US military, the convoy was shot because it was considered a threat, plus they weren’t aware of the Italian rescue mission.
Giuliana Sgrena claims instead that the car was not speeding and the Americans must have known about the operation because Calipari could not have forgotten such an important detail, as he was experencied from previous similar operations in Iraq.
The Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, and President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi both declared that they are expecting an official explanation from the USA.
President Bush immmediately called our Prime Minister on Friday expressing his sorrow and Donald Rumsfeld did the same with Antonio Martino, the Italian Minister of Defence, expressing "the sorrow of the American administration, and his own personal sorrow for the death of Nicola Calipari."
As reported by Ian Fisher of the New York Times, the Pentagon is supposed to start an investigation soon.
When the crowd finally cleared from the chapel where the hero now lies among other glorious soldiers, I went to leave some flowers above his grave. At that moment, an official nearby pointed out to me that the “A” of Nicola was missing, it had fallen on the ground or someone must have taken it. We were not able to find it, but either way, what does that “A” stand for?
Il Romanaccio at 9:16 AM