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Italy Vows to Stay in Iraq Despite Hostage
Killing
By Fiona O'Brien BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi vowed on Thursday to keep troops in Iraq (news - web sites) despite the killing of an Italian hostage in scenes Al Jazeera said were too bloody to screen.
"They have destroyed a life. They have not cracked our values and our efforts
for peace," Berlusconi said in a statement after the killing of security guard
Fabrizio Quattrocchi.
The killing by a previously unheard of Iraqi group followed a spate of
kidnappings that has snared foreign civilians from at least a dozen countries
this month, Iraq's bloodiest period since Saddam Hussein (news
- web
sites) was ousted a year ago.
It was the first time in the wave of kidnappings that a group had openly
publicized a hostage killing.
Al Jazeera said the kidnappers were threatening to kill three other Italian
hostages, who like Quattrocchi worked for a U.S. private security firm, if Italy
did not bow to their demand to withdraw its troops from the U.S.-led coalition
in Iraq.
"We have the footage but we won't air it as it is too bloody," said an
official for the Arabic TV station. Italy's ambassador in Qatar identified
Quattrocchi in the footage.
Italy said earlier it would not give in to "blackmail" to save the hostages
but was working with Iran and others for their release. Berlusconi's office said
after news of the killing that the prime minister was sending a senior official
to Iraq immediately to try and save the lives of the remaining hostages.
Berlusconi sent almost 3,000 troops to Iraq and has been a staunch supporter
of President Bush (news
- web
sites), but there have been signs of nervousness among other U.S. allies
amid the hostage-taking and violence sweeping Iraq.
JAPAN PROBES REPORTS OF MORE HOSTAGES
Kidnappers freed a French journalist on Wednesday, but more than a dozen
foreigners remained captive. Japan, which also has troops in Iraq, said it was
investigating reports two more Japanese had been taken hostage, in addition to
three last week.
The U.S. military, embroiled in a two-front battle against radical Shi'ite
cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's militia and Sunni guerrillas, announced eight more
American soldiers had died in combat, bringing to 93 the number killed in action
in April.
This is four more than the number of U.S. troops who died in action in the
three-week war that toppled Saddam last year.
An envoy for Sadr said a deal could be imminent with U.S.-led authorities,
who have vowed to kill or capture the rebel leader.
Sadr, who launched an anti-U.S. uprising this month and is now holed up in
the Shi'ite holy city of Najaf, was reported earlier to have offered
unconditional talks to spare Najaf a bloodbath as U.S. forces tightened their
grip around it.
"I expect a solution within the next 24 hours. I met U.S. officials today and
the talks were extremely positive," said Abdelkarim al-Anzi, appointed by Sadr
to lead negotiations.
No comment was available from U.S.-led authorities.
U.S. troops said earlier they had not seen any sign of Sadr's forces backing
down.
"The indication I'm getting is that they are not retreating," said Colonel
Dana Pittard, commander of the 3rd Brigade Task Force poised outside Najaf.
IRAN SAYS INVOLVED IN IRAQ MEDIATION
Mainly Shi'ite Iran said its arch-foe the United States had asked it to help
calm the Iraq crisis. A Shi'ite political source said an official Iranian
delegation had flown to Baghdad to mediate.
Sadr's revolt among Iraq's majority and previously largely peaceful Shi'ites
erupted this month after U.S.-led authorities closed his newspaper, said he was
wanted for murder and detained his top aide.
It coincided with a U.S. crackdown in Falluja, a city west of Baghdad where
doctors say more than 600 people have been killed.
More clashes erupted between Sunni guerrillas and U.S. Marines in Falluja,
but Iraqi mediators said they had extended a much-violated truce for 48 hours.
Witnesses said a U.S. air strike hit an area of the city and four civilians
and two fighters were killed in fighting.
In Baghdad, U.S. soldiers fired on looters raiding a military truck on the
airport road, killing or wounding several. The bloody chaos in Iraq has shown
how hard Washington is finding the task of stabilizing the country it invaded to
destroy Saddam's still unfound weapons of mass destruction.
Bush, seeking re-election in November with opponents accusing him of leading
the United States into a Vietnam-style quagmire, vowed on Tuesday to stay the
course in Iraq and stick to a June 30 handover of power to Iraqis.
Taking advantage of a huge troop rotation program to beef up force levels in
Iraq, the U.S. military planned to keep more than 20,000 troops beyond their
year-long tours of duty, U.S. defense officials said.
One senior official said the number of U.S. troops in Iraq was now likely to
remain at more than 130,000 for another three months, instead of a previously
planned reduction to 110,000.
"There has been a decision that seasoned troops are needed as we move toward
and through the turnover of power to the interim Iraqi government," another
official said.
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