Italy to Try U.S. Soldier

The Caso Calipari seems to be far from finished. This morning a judge from Rome requested an extradition of American soldier Mario Lozano. Nicola Calipari -- killed by U.S. soldiers at a checkpoint March 4th, 2005 -- was an Italian Sismi agent. The post-mortem investigation showed that the ex-Sismi agent was killed by one bullet in the head. The killing of Calipari infuriated Italians of all political stripes, and some politicians suggested that he was targeted by the U.S. for his alleged involvement in paying cash ransoms (rumored to be in the millions of euro) to the insurgency for Italian hostages. The U.S. government has shrugged at all notions of these "conspiracy theories", calling it a "friendly-fire" accident; the U.S., however, does have a strict policy of not paying ransoms, since they fund the illegal acquisition of arms.

In response to today's request for Lozano's extradition, the Pentagon responded swiftly: "We will not extradite Lozano. The case is already closed."

(photo: Italy's popular Communist newspaper, il manifesto, runs the headline "With You" on the day following Calipari's death)