Italian Journo Kidnapped in Afghanistan

Italian reporter, Daniele Mastrogiacomo, 52, has been kidnapped in Afghanistan. Mastrogiacomo, a foreign correspondent for Rome's La Repubblica, was born in Pakistan and holds dual Swiss/Italian citizenship. Rome has gone out in protest supporting the release of Mastrogiacomo and a petition is circulating to assure his safe and speedy return. He is reportedly in the hands of the Taliban, and the Taliban recently said that Mastrogiacomo's fate is "still to be decided".

Developing . . .

( photo courtesy of La Stampa)

(Above: Ezio Mauro, the Editor-in-Chief of La Repubblica; Walter Veltroni, the Mayor of Rome, and Rosa Calipari, the wife of Italian Sismi agent Nicola Calipari who was killed by U.S. forces in a friendly-fire incident)

****UPDATE****

Daniele Mastrogiacomo was released this week in a prisoner exchange with the Italians, 5 captured Taliban for il Signore Mastrogiacomo. The U.S. government lodged a complaint with the Italian government about releasing 5 Taliban, but Massimo D'Alema, Italy's Foreign Minister, said he had "no regrets".

Here We Go Again

The newly-reminted Prodi is starting off this round with the same ol' jabbering: "There is no room for games"; "Give me five years and I'll change Italy"; et cetera, exactly what we heard 9 months ago.

Members of Prodi's coalition are against Italy's involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as the enlargement of the American base in Vicenza, but another crucial flashpoint is La Tav, something that Prodi supports. La Tav, (Treni ad Alta Velocità) refers to a high-speed train network planned for Italy. The trains run 200km-300km per hour (125mph-190mph) and have the capability to make up to 300 trips a day.

The construction, however, is an arduous ones and "La Grande T" -- the Big T -- runs a "T" from Milano south to Napoli, and Torino east to Venezia; other main stops are Genova, Verona, Padova, Bologna, Firenze, Foggia and Bari. A slew of tunnels and bridges will have to be built and the initial cost estimate, which was initially high, just tripled. If unfinished, la Tav could become another infamous ecomostro, but it's hard to argue against the usefulness of a high-speed train system. The most contentious link on the Tav is the Torino-Lione section (Turin-Lyon, France), and the environmental impact, although undetermined, could be great -- and the beautiful Piemonte is a region definitely worth preserving.

The Torino-Lione link is pitched as an effective way to transport goods, but once across the border, la Tav reportedly cannot travel at its high-speed, as this segment of the French railway does not have the required capabilities (otherwise, the French railways are among the best in the world).

For many reasons, many Italians question the necessity of the Tav's construction. It's also worth noting that many Italian (and European) lefties see the Tav as a "land fight": Posted on Indymedia Barcelona is the following: "The struggle against the high-speed train is an expression of our right to refuse, radically, and through direct action, any expropriation of the land to the benefit of the Neoliberals."

It looks like Prodi's ride forward -- whether it be on a Tav or not -- is destined to be a bumpy one indeed.