Iraq killing won't harm Italian-US ties-minister

[Barrett808]

ROME (Reuters) - Italy and the United States sought to play down a row on Monday over the shooting of an Italian agent in

Iraq, just hours before Rome was due to publish its report on the killing that was likely to criticize Washington.

Italy has refused to accept a U.S. report released at the weekend that cleared American troops of wrongdoing in the death of Nicola Calipari, gunned down at a checkpoint in Baghdad on March 4. as he was escorting an Italian hostage to freedom.

Rome will publish its own version of events at 1600 GMT on Monday and the government has already said that it will challenge key aspects of the U.S. conclusions.

Some politicians have said Italy should pull its troops out of Iraq to protest at the incident, but Defense Minister Antonio Martino looked to ease tensions on Monday as he attended a World War II commemoration alongside the U.S. ambassador to Italy.

Asked if the dispute would hurt ties between the two countries, Martino said: "Certainly not."

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