Middle East New Inquiry Into Killing of Italian

The US command in Baghdad said last night it had asked Italian officials to join a new inquiry into the shooting incident in which an Italian intelligence officer was killed by American soldiers.

The announcement represented the most determined attempt yet by the US to repair links with one of its staunchest allies, which have been badly strained by the shooting at a makeshift checkpoint last week.

The inquiry follows an investigation immediately after the incident whose findings were yesterday rejected by Rome. The US said the new inquiry would be headed by a brigadier general.

Addressing the parliament in Rome yesterday, Italy's foreign minister, Gianfranco Fini, said Italy's "reconstruction of the tragic event ... does not fully coincide with what has been communicated by US authorities."

Nicola Calipari, a senior military intelligence officer, died from a single bullet to the head as he was being driven to Baghdad airport with a former hostage whose release he had just secured.

The former hostage, Giuliana Sgrena, a correspondent for the far-left daily Il Manifesto, said the US might have mounted the attack because it opposed the paying of ransoms.