In a special report, Italy last night formally repudiated the findings of the US military with regard to the events that led to the March 4th death in Baghdad of Italian Secret Service agent Nicola Calipari.
Agent Calipari was killed at a military checkpoint close to Baghdad's airport when US soldiers opened fire on the car in which he was travelling, just minutes after he had obtained the release of Italian hostage, journalist Giuliana Sgrena.
In the car with Mr Calipari at the time were Ms Sgrena and another Italian Secret Service Agent, Major C, both of whom were injured.
As was widely expected, the Italian report rejects the findings of the US military report, published last weekend, with regard to three specific areas - the dynamics of the shooting, the rules of engagement implemented by the US military at the checkpoint and the level of co-operation and shared intelligence between the Italian agents and the multi-national forces in Baghdad.
With regard to the actual shooting, the Italian report claims that the Toyota Corolla car in which the three were travelling did not approach "Blocking Point BP541" (close to the airport) at a high speed, as claimed by the US military. The Italian report suggests that the car was "in no hurry" and that Major C. was driving carefully because the road was wet, he was approaching a tight bend and talking on his mobile phone.
Furthermore, the Italian reports suggests that the "state of tension" and "some level of inexperience" amongst the US soldiers prompted them to "instinctive and ill-controlled" reactions when faced with the oncoming vehicle. In contrast, the US report had claimed that the soldiers had opened fire in a four second period after it became clear to them that the vehicle was ignoring both their warning shots and flashing lights.
The Italian report was also sharply critical of the manner in which "Blocking Point BP541" had been set up, arguing that senior US officers who arrived on the scene of the shooting had criticised the checkpoint for being poorly illuminated, inadequately signalled and badly positioned. Furthemore, the report claims that the scene of the shooting was "not correctly preserved", thus impeding an Italian police investigation into the events.
With regard to the level of co-operation between the Italian agents and the US-led multi-national forces in Baghdad, the Italian version of events again differs sharply from that recounted in the US military report last weekend. The Italian report, whilst it admits that the US chain of command "may not have been formally informed re the mission", claims that US commanders were "without doubt" aware of Calipari's presence in Baghdad, given that he had been assigned temporary quarters in the US base of Camp Victory.
The US military report had suggested that the lack of precise information re agent Calipari's mission had proved crucial, given that no one in the multinational force's chain of command, or at the US embassy, or at Baghdad airport, or indeed at the "Hostage Task Force Group", knew the precise movements or intentions of Mr Calipari.
Despite the obvious tensions, both US and Italian government sources were at pains to underline that good relations between the two countries would not suffer.