Italian Journalist Released In Iraq

[chlamor]

Italian journalist released in Iraq

Friday 04 March 2005, 21:13 Makka Time, 18:13 GMT  


Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena, who was abducted in Baghdad on 4 February, has been freed, Aljazeera has reported.

Sgrena, 56, a reporter for the daily Il Manifesto, was kidnapped by armed men near Baghdad University where she had been interviewing refugees from last year's US assault on Falluja.
 
Il Manifesto's editorial director Francesco Paterno said he had been informed of Sgrena's release by an Italian official in charge of the secret service.

 "It's been confirmed. Gianni Letta confirmed it. They have her," said Paterno, without giving any further details.


Italy's President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi also confirmed that Sgrena had been released.

Il Manifesto strongly opposed the US-led invasion of Iraq and has fiercely criticised Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's support and his decision to deploy 3000 troops in Iraq.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/18E55671-28DC-4311-970F-EC53ACAB4666.htm

[bemildred]

1. Good. nt

[quiet.american]

2. Great news. n/t

[Cooley Hurd]

3. CNN Breaking: US troops fire on her car as she's being released...

I'm NOT kidding! looking for link... Jeebus Fucking Christ!:grr:

Il Manifesto reporting her car was mistakenly fired on by a US armored vehicle after she was released. One passenger in the car was killed, and she was wounded in the shoulder. Still looking for a link...

[oasis]

4. Just heard it on CNN. what the.....?

:wtf: trigger happy bastards.

[Cooley Hurd]

5. Can you believe it?

:grr: and a kick for the bigger, breaking story.

[dave29]

6. And Eason Jordan cackles to himself

Jesus.

[Bluebear]

34. Wonder if Jordan will comment on this

He's looking more legitimate by the minute!

[Bluebear]

7. U.S. Forces Fire at Freed Reporter in Iraq, Italian secret service killed

ROME (Reuters) - U.S. forces fired at a car carrying Italian reporter Giuliana Sgrena shortly after her liberation, wounding some of the passengers, the journalist's newspaper said on Friday.

"She was going in a car to the airport with three people from the Italian security forces. U.S. forces opened fire on the car. She is fine but there are wounded," Il Manifesto's editorial director Francesco Paterno told Reuters.

Italian news agency ANSA said Sgrena had been wounded in the shoulder and added that one of the Italian secret service agents had been killed. Another news agency, AGI, said Sgrena was being treated in a Baghdad hospital.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20050304/ts_nm/iraq_dc_509

[meganmonkey]

8. Do you think Eason Jordan will be asking for his job back?

[VolcanoJen]

14. First thing I thought of too, megan

This is just unbelievable.

[Bluebear]

25. VJ where have you been!

Missed you!

[VolcanoJen]

28. layin' low, layin' low

Where I used to post my daily outrages, these days I only join in the discussion for true outrages. I was getting a little too outraged during election season.

:D

:hug: Bluebear! :hug:

[Bluebear]

29. I hear you

You have been sorely, sorely missed. But I understand the need to take a break from this crap now and then.

[LisaM]

9. You took the words out of my mouth....

Looks as if Eason Jordan has just been vindicated.

[Cooley Hurd]

10. CNN reporting she was wounded in the shoulder...

...and has been taken to a hospital, and there's one passenger killed.

[CottonBear]

11. US forces killed one of the Italian secret service agents.

That is really awful.
:scared:
:scared:
:scared:

[Bluebear]

27. Thanks CB updated the headline

So so sad.

[VolcanoJen]

31. This is very, very, VERY serious.

Why weren't we informed of the Italian attempt? Why are we just shooting randomly at autos?

The "US forces shoot at" angle of this story is even more important than the fact that the reporter was (thankfully) released.

[Bluebear]

33. 2 questions

Did they know who they were shooting at and if so why were they shooting

or

Did they not know who they were shooting at and if so why were they shooting?

[CottonBear]

72. I don't have any answers.

It's all so senseless. She survived being held captive yet people die when she's finally free. :cry:
I'm sure the Italian people are mightily pissed off right now.

[Just Me]

12. This is VERY concerning!!!!

Is anyone tracking the journalists that are "mistakenly" being shot down?

[Up2Late]

65. Fontline/World did a segment on it a few weeks ago

Showed a Iraqi Journalist being killed by an American Helicopter Firing a missile into a Crowd, after an IED.

The Reporter was recording a report at the time.

<http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/index.html>

[jpak]

13. This probably happens all the time to Iraqi citizens

but it never gets reported...

[Richard Steele]

18. Really gives the impression...

...that our troops are still firing randomly at anything that moves.

[Bluebear]

26. Indiscriminate!

[Karenina]

71. That IS what my Iraqi neighbors tell me.

Andt it's been going on for 2 YEARS now... :cry:

[Bluebear]

32. Wasn't there a situation involving shooting into some family's car?

I don't remember if it was at a checkpoint or not but the kids were orphaned and.... oh this is all distressing.

[MountainLaurel]

64. Happens fairly frequently

But this is what you're probably thinking about:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/picture_gallery/05/middle_east_shooting_in_tal_afar/html/3.stm

[okieinpain]

15. funny shit, if it wasn't so sad. reminds me of m.a.s.h.

[Maeve]

20. Seriously, seriously FUBAR

And very M.A.S.H.-like!

[Bluebear]

24. Indeed!

[Junkdrawer]

16. Well, they were told to shoot at "independent journalists"...

How are they supposed to tell the difference between "independent" and "freed" journalists? :shrug:

[bushisanidiot]

17. Brown skin = terrorist, according to pres. AWOL

brown skin with too much info = definite terrorist, must destroy.

:P

[Dhalgren]

19. Makes sense:

A car full of dark-skinned Foreigners, headed for the airport? Light'em up!

[Bluebear]

Truly, LBN moderator this headline is important enough to stand on its own

.

[Bluebear]

23. .

.

[vpigrad]

78. Why would the thugs in green...

punish her for being a hostage? I don't understand. What in the hell goes through the minds of those idiots? "Hey, there's the poor woman that was a hostage. Hey bubba, let's shoot her!" Damn violent idiots make this country look horrible.

[Cocoa]

21. journalists safer in the hands of insurgents

than they are at large in Iraq.

News organizations will be advising captive journalists to stay put, for their own safety.

[GodlessBiker]

22. Oh man. Ain't that the truth.

[oasis]

30. Bellesconi going through the motions asking U.S. ambassador to

investigate the death of the Italian security agent.

He really could give a shit about the guy.

[Bluebear]

35. Now they say the car was driving too fast coming to the checkpoint

MM-hmm.

[Up2Late]

36. U.S. Forces Fire at Freed (Italian) Reporter's Car, Agent Killed

Fri Mar 4, 2005 02:49 PM ET

ROME (Reuters) - U.S. forces fired at a car carrying Italian reporter Giuliana Sgrena shortly after her liberation, killing an Italian secret service agent and lightly wounding the journalist, her newspaper said on Friday.

Gabriele Polo, the editor of Il Manifesto newspaper, said Sgrena's car was fired on as it made its way to Baghdad airport.

"This news which should have be a moment of celebration, has been ruined by this fire fight," Polo told Sky Italia television.

"An Italian agent has been killed by an American bullet. A tragic demonstration which we never wanted that everything that's happening in Iraq is completely senseless and mad," he added, struggling to fight back his tears.

The Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi sent his condolences to the family of the dead agent, who was named by Il Manifesto's Polo as Nicola Calipari.

Sgrena was seized in the Iraqi capital on Feb. 4 as she conducted interviews on the street near Baghdad University.

© Reuters 2005. All Rights Reserved.
<http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=7813155&src=rss/topNews>

[Kimber Scott]

37. Senseless and Mad. Like the man who got us in there. This is so sad.

[KingoftheJungle]

38. This is so horrible I'm actually laughing

Sure says a lot about whats going on over there, doesn't it? I can't get over the irony of it all.

[loritooker]

39. I'm so relieved that the reporter was not killed! nt

[LisaL]

55. But the secret agent was killed.

[Beaverhausen]

40. Jesus fucking christ

this is just beyond comprehension.

[Strelnikov_]

41. I Think The Term 'ClusterFuck' Can Now Be Applied To Our Leaders

Iraq misadventure.

[Warren Stupidity]

45. actually in this case

'total goat-fuck' is the term of art.

[caligirl]

42. Were they tryig to kill the reporter? Eason Jordons comments ring any

BELLS HERE ?

[prolesunited]

46. No kidding

Seems awfully suspicious. What does she know? :tinfoilhat:

[Wilms]

43. Maybe PNAC fears the report she'll file n/t

[NNN0LHI]

44. Sonuvabitch n/t

[MrPrax]

47. Unbelieveable...

Politics aside...anyone in charge there?

Last time I looked, Italy was a coalition partner--no liaison? no co-ordination? no support?

These people are incompetent by any standards...

[Just Me]

51. Thing is,...I tend to assume Italy would inform the U.S. of the release.

Wouldn't you? :shrug:

[MrPrax]

81. I would too...

I would also assume that things like this are vetted to the various authorities...that hostages and the various 'negotiations' going on are duly noted...
Somebody screwed up...

[plasticsundance]

48. Did anyone read this link?

http://www.libertyforum.org/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=iraq_war&Number=293375239

Giuliana Sgrena, an unembedded Italian journalist, was not kidnapped by the Iraqi resistance. If you read her stories, you will immediately realize the Iraqi resistance had absolutely no reason to abduct her. Giuliana Sgrena wrote about the suffering of the Iraqi people under occupation. “Suffering daily abuses and violence from occupation forces or their proxies, the Iraqis themselves are subjected to routine hostage-taking by the occupiers,” writes Stefano Chiarini, Il Manifesto correspondent in Baghdad.

<snip>

Both Hassan and Sgrena were kidnapped by “counterinsurgency” black op groups—now admitted to be working in both Iraq and Iran by the Pentagon—posing as resistance fighters. I have no evidence of this but it is the only explanation that makes sense. I have written about this elsewhere, so will not repeat the details. See my Hersh Adds Credibility to Speculation Margaret Hassan was the Victim of a Counterinsurgency Operation, posted on January 18. I also wrote about it here. For speculating on such, I have been termed a conspiracy nut donning a tinfoil hat.

Eason Jordan, the chief news executive of CNN, was forced to resign recently for stating the obvious: the Pentagon targets journalists in Iraq. Jordan sheepishly attempted to backtrack after making the comment in Davos, Switzerland.

I did not supply inner links from article, especially the Hersh reference.

Odd, isn't it? Or is it just another day in Iraq? Or someone doesn't want certain information to come out.

[NNN0LHI]

54. I've been thinking this one & the French reporter (& maybe others too)...

...were part of that fucker Negroponte's "Salvador Option" in Iraq. Yea I did.

Don

[Just Me]

49. The Italian PM appears angry,...is demanding an explanation,...

,...and believes it was definitely U.S. forces while DoD is saying "coalition forces".

[Warren Stupidity]

50. bushco rule #1 "not my fault, wasn't me, I didnt' do it". EOM

[Charles19]

52. What the hell is going on over there that nonsense like this

happens.

I can't imagine what it is like having to live day to day in a situation like that.

I just found out my cousin has been stationed in Baghdad, scary stuff. It is BS he has to go take part in this circus.

[qanda]

53. Is this for real?

My goodness, we just cannot be that incompetent.

[Just Me]

56. Now, they're confirming it was U.S. forces,...

,...of course, it was a "mistake",...her car was travelling at a high rate of speed approaching the checkpoint,...

Yeah,...whatthefuckever,...:eyes:

[leftchick]

58. it was on purpose for sure....

can't have a reporter teling tales of truth out of Iraq now can we? :grr:

[fryguy]

59. what if she wasn't a reporter?

had this not been a reporter's car would the incident have even been reported? would it have been labled as soliders killing "insurgents"? wonder how often this sort of thing happens and how often the pentagon covers it up?

[Bluebear]

61. The reporter is irrelevent and dangerous to Bushco...

that they killed one and now probably two Italian secret service agents is why this MIGHT see the light of day. Very sad.

[caligirl]

73. THE AGENT WAS SHIELDING THE REPORTER AND WAS

shot while protecting the reporters life. I was listening to the news report during the Ed Shultz show.
They tried to kill the Italian reporter.IMO

[burrowowl]

79. I wonder if this

will make the Italians more pissed at us?
Berlesconi must be getting mega bribes from the Bu$hies.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

57. "It appears a second person in the automobile was killed," (AP)

"It appears a second person in the automobile was killed," and that "Sgrena is being treated by coalition force medical personnel."

The announcement, read by a U.S. military spokesman, Staff Sergeant Don Dees, added that the "incident is under investigation and additional details will be provided when they become available."

Dees would not provide further details but said the issue was being taken "very seriously."

"I want to emphasize that we are investigating this, and that we will work diligently and quickly to provide details as soon as we have them," Dees said.
more...
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050304/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_050304195045

[fryguy]

60. security peronnel killed in attack

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/03/04/iraq.main/index.html

Nicola Calipari, a member of the security forces who were with Sgrena, was killed.

[old blue]

75. Sgrena is being treated by coalition force medical personnel."

Gee, now they can finish the job.

[oasis]

62. It's time to check BBC. Apparently the corporate media intends to bury

this story.

[Bluebear]

63. The spin has begun!!!

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Freed Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena was injured and another person killed on Friday when "multinational forces" fired on a speeding automobile at a military checkpoint in Baghdad, the Pentagon said.

[Up2Late]

68. They've got to keep up up to date on the Micheal Jackson Trial!

Or the Neocon sponsored uprisings in Lebanon:mad:

[Bluebear]

66. Der Spiegel (Germany): Sgrena "heavily wounded"

:(

[Emboldened Chimp]

67. Top of the page on the NY Times

U.S. Forces Fired on Car Carrying Freed Italian Hostage in Iraq

Filed at 3:11 p.m. ET

ROME (AP) -- A freed Italian hostage was injured and an Italian intelligence officer killed Friday after a U.S. armored vehicle fired on a car in which they were riding in Iraq, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said.

Berlusconi, an ally of the United States who has kept troops in Iraq despite public opposition at home, said he has asked the U.S. ambassador for an explanation.

"Given that the fire came from an American source I called in the American ambassador," Berlusconi told reporters. "I believe we must have an explanation for such a serious incident, for which someone must take the responsibility."

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Italy-Iraq-Hostage.html?hp&ex=1109998800&en=517ef344df7c7553&ei=5094&partner=homepage

[Up2Late]

69. I just heard the NPR report...

The Italians are VERY pissed off.:grr:

[Bluebear]

70. I would imagine!

So sad.

[BiggerBen]

80. Italians

Italians are always pissed off

[caligirl]

74. repost. The agent was killed while shielding the reporter from gunfire

They were firing at the reporter when the agent was killed protecting her.

[Bluebear]

76. Italian news confirms, he threw his body over her & saved her life

While losing his. :(

[caligirl]

77. U.S. Forces Wound Freed Italian Hostage in Iraq

U.S. Forces Wound Freed Italian Hostage in Iraq
Fri Mar 4, 2005 05:34 PM ET

By Andrew Marshall

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena was freed by her captors on Friday but U.S. forces in Iraq mistakenly opened fire on the convoy taking her to safety, wounding her and killing an Italian secret service agent.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, one of President Bush's staunchest supporters in Iraq, immediately summoned the American ambassador, demanding explanations and declaring someone had to take responsibility.

U.S. forces at a checkpoint shot dead the agent and wounded Sgrena in the shoulder while she was being driven to Baghdad airport after being freed and handed over to three Italian secret service officers, Berlusconi told a news conference.

"We were turned to stone when the officials told us about it on the telephone," Berlusconi said.

"The agent, Nicola Calipari covered Sgrena with his body, he was hit by a bullet which unfortunately was fatal," he said. All three other passengers were wounded. Sgrena was treated for a shrapnel wound in her shoulder at a U.S. military hospital.

The 57-year-old Sgrena was kidnapped on Feb. 4. Insurgents later released a video of



http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=3XTTT2XIFTSSKCRBAEZSFEY?type=topNews&storyID=7814230