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Kidnapped in Iraq, Shot by U.S. Forces: Italian Journalist
Giuliana Sgrena Says U.S. Army Destroyed Incident Logs; Wants
to Meet Soldier Who Killed the Secret Service Agent Who Saved
Her
Kidnapped in Iraq, Shot by U.S. Forces: Italian Journalist
Giuliana Sgrena Says U.S. Army Destroyed Incident Logs; Wants
to Meet Soldier Who Killed the Secret Service Agent Who Saved
Her
We spend the hour with Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena.
In February 2005, she was kidnapped in Iraq. She was held
for one month and then released. As she was being driven to
Baghdad International Airport, the car she was riding in came
under fire from U.S. forces. Her escort, Major General Nicola
Calipari - Italy's second highest-ranking military intelligence
officer - died in the shooting as he tried to protect her.
Sgrena was seriously injured.
The U.S. military has maintained that the shooting was justified
and that the car carrying the Italians was traveling at high
speeds and refused to stop at a checkpoint. Giuliana Sgrena
and the Italian government have denied the U.S. claims. While
the Pentagon cleared the troops involved of any wrongdoing,
Italian prosecutors are still pursuing the case and requesting
the indictment of U.S. Army Specialist Mario Lozano. [includes
rush transcript]
In Italy, federal prosecutors are calling for a U.S. soldier
from the Bronx to stand trial for the killing of Italy's second
highest\-ranking military intelligence officer, Nicola Calipari.
Calipari was the Italian intelligence agent who had traveled
to Iraq in March 2005 to help secure the release of Giuliana
Sgrena, the Italian journalist who had been kidnapped a month
earlier.
Sgrena was in Iraq reporting for the daily Italian newspaper
Il Manifesto. She was abducted on February 4, 2005 shortly
after interviewing refugees from Fallujah.
She was held for one month. During her time in captivity,
a video was recorded of her calling for the withdrawal of
Italian troops from Iraq.
On March 4, 2005 she was released. But her nightmare did
not end then.
As she was being driven to Baghdad International Airport,
the car she was riding in came under fire. Her escort, Major
General Nicola Calipari, died in the shooting, as he tried
to protect her. Sgrena was seriously injured herself and required
weeks of hospitalization.
The gunfire however came not from Iraqi insurgents but from
U.S. soldiers. The shooting made international headlines.
Thousands of Italians attended the funeral of Nicola Calipari.
It was televised across Italy. He is now remembered as a national
hero.
And the shooting remains a source of tension between the
Italian and U.S. governments. The U.S. military has maintained
that the shooting was justified and that the car carrying
the Italians was traveling at high speeds and refused to stop
at a checkpoint.
Giuliana Sgrena and the Italian government have denied the
U.S. claims. Although the Pentagon cleared the troops involved
of any wrongdoing, Italian prosecutors are still pursuing
the case.
Just last week an Italian prosecutor requested the indictment
of Army Specialist Mario Lozano, a member of the New York
National Guard's 69th Infantry Regiment.
The U.S. Army, however, is refusing requests to extradite
Lozano whose whereabouts are unknown.
Today, Giuliana Sgrena joins us in our Firehouse studio.
For the first time since the shooting, she has come to the
United States. She has just written a new book titled 'Friendly
Fire,' published by Haymarket Books.
- Giuliana Sgrena, Italian journalist kidnapped in Iraq,
rescued by an Italian secret service agent and shot by U.S.
forces. She is author of "Friendly Fire."
For a copy of today’s program, call 1 (800) 881 2359.
Our website is www.democracynow.org.
Our email address is mail@democracynow.org.
Democracy Now! is produced by Mike Burke, Sharif Abdel Kouddous,
Ana Nogueira, Elizabeth Press, Jeremy Scahill and Parvez Sharma.
Mike Di Filippo is our engineer.
Thanks also to Uri Galed, Angela Alston, Orlando Richards,
Simba Russeau, Johnny Sender, Rich Kim, Joe Murgio, John Randolph,
Chris Zucker, Karen Ranucci, Denis Moynihan, Eric Rweyemamu,
Jenny Filipazzo and Isis Phillips.
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