Italy is challenging a US report that cleared American soldiers of wrongdoing in the shooting of an Italian agent in Baghdad, a case that has sorely tested one of Washington's staunchest allies in Iraq.
The Italian investigation of the death of Nicola Calipari found that there were coordination problems among officials in Iraq and problems with rules of engagement for checkpoints, Italy's foreign ministry said on its Web site ahead of the report's release today.
The Italian government should "maintain its position that gives its own reading of the events," former Foreign Minister Gianni De Michelis told Italian state radio.
"I believe it's also in the interests of both Italy and the US to move beyond this affair as soon as possible," said De Michelis, whose small socialist party is an ally in Premier Silvio Berlusconi's ruling coalition.
Calipari was killed March 4, soon after he had secured the release of Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena from Iraqi militants who had held her hostage for a month. US soldiers fired on the Italians' vehicle as it approached an American checkpoint near Baghdad's airport. Sgrena and another Italian agent were wounded.
The US investigation said the incident might have been prevented by better coordination between the Italian government and US forces in Iraq. It also said the vehicle failed to slow down as it approached the checkpoint, and that the soldiers who fired at it acted according to the rules of engagement.
The Italian report contends that US authorities were informed of the operation several hours before the shooting and were told of Sgrena's release 25 minutes before Calipari was killed, Italian newspapers said.
The Italian version also argues that rapid removal of evidence from the site made a proper inspection impossible, the newspapers Corriere della Seraand La Repubblicareported.
Italy and the United States have publicly differed over crucial points about the incident since the first hours after the killing of Calipari, who was hailed as a national hero. The two Italian experts who participated in a joint US-Italian probe of the shooting refused to sign off on the American conclusions.
Though the opposition praised the government's decision to dispute the US version, Berlusconi, a staunch American ally, will have to deal with other political fallout over the case, including calls to bring home Italy's troops from Iraq.
Roberto Calderoli, reforms minister in the conservative government, said differences over the investigation into Calipari's death should trigger "an attentive and deep reflection on when our troops should come back," according to comments reported in La Stampa newspaper.