DISPATCH FROM DOWN UNDER
Italian agent killed at U.S. checkpoint in Baghdad had negotiated release of previous hostages
Saturday March 05, 2005
By MARIA SANMINIATELLI
Associated Press Writer
ROME (AP) Veteran Italian secret agent Nicola Calipari who won the freedom of captive journalist Giuliana Sgrena was a practiced hostage negotiator who had already helped bring home two Italians kidnapped in Iraq.
At least once before, Calipari reportedly had come close to negotiating Sgrena's release. He had gone to Baghdad once before, convinced he would leave with the 56-year-old writer for the left-wing newspaper Il Manifesto, but left empty-handed, according to the news agency ANSA.
It finally happened Friday, when Sgrena was handed over to Italian officials after a month of captivity in the hands of Iraqi insurgents. But the happy occasion quickly turned sour when the car taking Sgrena, Calipari and other agents to the Baghdad airport was fired upon at a U.S. checkpoint.
Calipari was killed as he threw his body across Sgrena, in what she said was an attempt to shield her from the bullets.
Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi awarded Calipari with the gold medal of valor Saturday for his heroism. Across Italy, fans observed a moment of silence in tribute to the agent before the kickoff at soccer games.
``He was an extraordinary man. Getting to know him, I became certain that Giuliana would come home,'' Sgrena's boyfriend Pier Scolari told ANSA.
Sgrena was abducted Feb. 4 by gunmen who blocked her car outside Baghdad University.
News of Calipari's death brought grief to other former hostages and their relatives.
``Nicola Calipari was a beautiful person, a simple person. He was the person who freed me,'' Simona Torretta told ANSA on Friday as she left the home of Calipari, where she had gone to pay her respects and meet with his family.
The aid worker was held hostage in Iraq for three weeks with her colleague, Simona Pari, before Calipari negotiated her release Sept. 28.
``We are very sorry, we owe these people so much,'' said Pari's father, Luciano Pari. ``He's a person who worked very well.''
Minister of the interior Giuseppe Pisanu visited Calipari's home to express his condolences and described the agent as ``the most true and human hero of this tormented story.''
Calipari, 50, was married and had a 19-year-old daughter and a 13-year-old son. He originally was from the southern city of Reggio-Calabria in the toe of Italy across from Sicily, but had never worked there. He was a 20-year veteran of the police force, and before moving on to Italy's secret services he had headed the immigration office for Rome's police.
http://cbsnewyork.com/international/Italy-AgentProfile-ai/resources_news_html
God be with you
God when does the time finially come when this administration are finally charged with war crimes
This one I think will be a big Problem for America and Bush Christy, notice the agent that they killed, HIs brother is a priest in Vatican City Big Trouble I am betting, this will not be just washed away in Italy you can bet.
Saturday March 05, 2005
By MARIA SANMINIATELLI
Associated Press Writer
ROME (AP) Veteran Italian secret agent Nicola Calipari who won the freedom of captive journalist Giuliana Sgrena was a practiced hostage negotiator who had already helped bring home two Italians kidnapped in Iraq.
At least once before, Calipari reportedly had come close to negotiating Sgrena's release. He had gone to Baghdad once before, convinced he would leave with the 56-year-old writer for the left-wing newspaper Il Manifesto, but left empty-handed, according to the news agency ANSA.
It finally happened Friday, when Sgrena was handed over to Italian officials after a month of captivity in the hands of Iraqi insurgents. But the happy occasion quickly turned sour when the car taking Sgrena, Calipari and other agents to the Baghdad airport was fired upon at a U.S. checkpoint.
Calipari was killed as he threw his body across Sgrena, in what she said was an attempt to shield her from the bullets.
Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi awarded Calipari with the gold medal of valor Saturday for his heroism. Across Italy, fans observed a moment of silence in tribute to the agent before the kickoff at soccer games.
``He was an extraordinary man. Getting to know him, I became certain that Giuliana would come home,'' Sgrena's boyfriend Pier Scolari told ANSA.
Sgrena was abducted Feb. 4 by gunmen who blocked her car outside Baghdad University.
News of Calipari's death brought grief to other former hostages and their relatives.
``Nicola Calipari was a beautiful person, a simple person. He was the person who freed me,'' Simona Torretta told ANSA on Friday as she left the home of Calipari, where she had gone to pay her respects and meet with his family.
The aid worker was held hostage in Iraq for three weeks with her colleague, Simona Pari, before Calipari negotiated her release Sept. 28.
``We are very sorry, we owe these people so much,'' said Pari's father, Luciano Pari. ``He's a person who worked very well.''
Minister of the interior Giuseppe Pisanu visited Calipari's home to express his condolences and described the agent as ``the most true and human hero of this tormented story.''
Calipari, 50, was married and had a 19-year-old daughter and a 13-year-old son. He originally was from the southern city of Reggio-Calabria in the toe of Italy across from Sicily, but had never worked there. He was a 20-year veteran of the police force, and before moving on to Italy's secret services he had headed the immigration office for Rome's police.
http://cbsnewyork.com/international/Italy-AgentProfile-ai/resources_news_html
God be with you
God when does the time finially come when this administration are finally charged with war crimes
This one I think will be a big Problem for America and Bush Christy, notice the agent that they killed, HIs brother is a priest in Vatican City Big Trouble I am betting, this will not be just washed away in Italy you can bet.
posted by Kangaroo Brisbane Australia at 2:24 AM
1 Comments:
Rossi,
Yes darlin this IS going to be a VERY big thing. It makes my stomaxhe hurt to see his body coming home. He was so brave.
And my country tried to murder them all. I can not quit shaking my head.
I pray that woman DOES have info. Something horrible happened in Fallujah..and as we were staring right at it somehow we ALL missed the forrest for the trees.
The attempt on her life was so blatenly desperate it gives me chills thinking what that may mean for this country. A country I once only reffered to as My Beloved.
Something terrible is coming around again. And somehow I think this woman knows EXACTLY what it is they tried to kill her for.
I can no longer think this nation is the nation of my birth. The ideals have shattered and we all have blood on our hands now.
when all this is over that reckoning will come Rossi.
We are just now coming to a question no one knows how to answer. If the president has gone mad..truely mad...WHAT THE HELL DO WE DO ABOUT IT?
I still cant answer it. I simply dont know what the fuck to do. None of us do.
God help us all.
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