Fri, Mar 11, 2005 page7

• Berlusconi denies any rift with US over Iraq killing

  SENATE SPEECH The Italian prime minister said the facts contradicted the US versions of events but hinted Rome might accept some of the responsibility

  • AFP AND AP
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  Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on Wednesday demanded "maximum collaboration" from the US in a joint probe into the friendly fire killing of an Italian agent in Iraq, but played down any notion of a rift between the allies.

  "We have a duty to demand the maximum collaboration to obtain the truth and determine who is responsible," Berlusconi said in an address to the Senate on the killing.

  Disputing Washington's version of events, Berlusconi said that an Italian intelligence agent who was shot to death by US troops in Baghdad had informed the proper authorities that he was heading to the airport with a freed hostage.

  Berlusconi also told lawmakers that the car carrying agent Nicola Calipari and a just-liberated hostage was traveling slowly and stopped immediately when a light was flashed at a checkpoint, before US troops fired on the car.

  Though the US and Italian versions of what happened Friday do not match up, ``I'm sure that in a very short time every aspect of this will be clarified,'' Berlusconi said.

  CONCILIATORY TENOR

  The overall tenor of his address was conciliatory toward the US, following Washington's decision to draw some of the sting from a burgeoning diplomatic spat by inviting Rome to participate in a joint inquiry.

  Berlusconi, one of US President George W. Bush's staunchest European allies, said that in allowing an Italian military officer and a diplomat to sit on the joint commission, Washington had shown it had no intention of hiding the truth.

  "I have already expressed my satisfaction over this decision, which demonstrates that our allies have no intention of keeping us from the truth," he said.

  He characterized Washington's decision as being "of the greatest importance," adding that Italy's "attitude of firmness" in the aftermath of the shooting, had been vindicated.

  "I believe that this attitude of firmness was the only one that the Italian government should and could adopt," he said.

  Italy and the US have been embroiled in a diplomatic spat since the killing of Calipari as he escorted released hostage Giuliana Sgrena to Baghdad airport. Sgrena was wounded in the shoulder.

  DISCREPANCIES

  Berlusconi, like his foreign minister Gianfranco Fini in a speech to parliament the day before, directly contradicted the US account of the shooting, which said the Italians' car had ignored warning shots and signals by the US patrol.

  He told senators the vehicle had braked immediately and come to a stop within a few yards after a light was flashed.

  "In that moment there was a burst of firing which lasted 10-15 seconds," he said.

  But Berlusconi also hinted that Rome may be prepared to recognize some responsibility for the incident.

  "Only a frank and reciprocal admission of eventual responsibilities can enable us to close an incident from which we are all suffering," he said.

  Also on Wednesday, Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini told state television that Calipari had not told the Americans why he was in Iraq.

  "Calipari duly advised [the US authorities] that he was in Baghdad, and he didn't advise what he had gone to Iraq to do, because we are a sovereign country," Fini said.

  In his speech, Berlusconi also signalled a change in Italy's policy in Iraq, where it has come under fire from its allies for negotiating with kidnap gangs amid unconfirmed rumors that it has paid millions of euros in ransom payments.
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