by Olivier Knox
WASHINGTON - The White House on Monday rejected as "absurd" an Italian journalist's suggestion that US soldiers in Iraq deliberately tried to kill her as she made her way to safety after a month-long hostage ordeal.
"It's absurd to make any such suggestion, that our men and women in uniform would deliberately target innocent civilians. That's just absurd," spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters.
At the same time, McClellan said Giuliana Sgrena, wounded Friday when the convoy carrying her was riddled by US fire near Baghdad airport, had been travelling through a "combat zone" where US forces often clash with insurgents.
Sgrena told Sky Italia news channel on Sunday that she may have been a target because the Americans opposed negotiations with her kidnappers. Italy's top intelligence officer in Iraq, Nicola Calipari, was killed in the incident.
"Everyone knows that the Americans don't want hostages to be freed by negotiations, and for that reason, I don't see why I should rule out that I was their target," she said.
That comment came amid fears that Friday's incident could lead to a full-scale diplomatic rift between Washington and Rome, which staunchly supported the March 2003 invasion to topple Saddam Hussein.
"The road that we're talking about, the road to Baghdad airport, it is one of the most dangerous roads in Iraq. It has been a place where suicide car bombers have launched attacks, it's been a place where regime elements have fired upon coalition forces," said McClellan.
"It is a dangerous road and it is a combat zone that our coalition forces are in and oftentimes they have to make split-second decisions to protect their own security," said the spokesman.
The US military has said its forces gave ample warning to the driver of Sgrena's car, which they said was approaching at speed when they opened fire. Sgrena has said they were not travelling fast.
"We regret this incident and we are going to fully investigate what exactly occurred," said McClellan, who noted that US President George W. Bush had expressed his regrets by telephone Friday to Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
"We have very good relations with the Italian government. Prime Minister Berlusconi is someone the president considers to be a good friend," said the spokesman.
In addition to Bush, US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld expressed regret for Calipari's death in a phone call to his Italian counterpart Antonio Martino, Italy's defense ministry said Sunday.
McClellan's comments came as central Rome came to a standstill Monday as Italy bade a solemn farewell with a state funeral for Calipari.
Initial investigations by Italian magistrates have yielded no evidence to support the allegation that US troops deliberately fired on Sgrena, the Italian news agency ANSA said Sunday.
Bulgaria is also pressing for an investigation into the friendly fire death of one of its soldiers, Gardi Gardev, who was killed Friday while on patrol.
03/07/2005 16:22 GMT