Untitled Document
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The women were held hostage
for three weeks in September |
The Italian Red Cross treated four Iraqi insurgents to secure the release
of two Italian women held hostage last year, a Red Cross official has said.
Maurizio Scelli, the outgoing head of the Italian Red Cross, said the
deal had been kept secret from the US.
"Had the Americans known about it, this could have damaged the
subtle strategy," Mr Scelli told Italy's Rai radio after speaking to a
newspaper.
Two aid workers, Simona Pari and Simona Torretta, were held for three weeks.
Mr Scelli - who first revealed the story to the Italian daily La Stampa - said
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's right-man man, Gianni Letta, was aware of
the deal.
"He acknowledged it and - albeit with a thousand recommendations - he
told me to go ahead with it," Mr Scelli said.
Mr Berlusconi's office has not commented on the report. Italy has always denied
paying a ransom for "the two Simonas".
Agent's advice
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Nicola Calipari was killed helping to free another hostage |
Mr Scelli said he did not know the identities of the insurgents his agency
had treated.
"We collected them in the place we had been told and then took them to
hospital with a series of precautions for them to be admitted into hospital
as quickly as possible and without any hindrance," he told Rai.
He added that US checkpoints were among the hindrances he was referring to.
An Italian secret service agent, Nicola Calipari, was killed by US gunfire
at a checkpoint in Iraq in March as he escorted another Italian hostage to freedom.
The US and Italy disagreed about the circumstances of the killing, briefly
straining relations between the allies.
Mr Scelli said Mr Calipari had been consulted about the deal to free Ms Torretta
and Ms Pari.
The two women stunned Italy by defending the Iraqi insurgency on their release,
saying there was a difference between guerrillas and freedom fighters.
