WASHINGTON - The United States and Italy have not come to a final agreement on a joint report into the killing of a top Italian intelligence agent at a US checkpoint in Iraq last month as he was bringing a freed hostage to safety, US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said.
"My latest information is they have not come to a final agreement on a joint report," Rumsfeld said.
An army official, who asked not to be identified, said Monday investigators have concluded that the US soldiers involved in the shooting were "not culpable" but that the Italians had not accepted the findings.
The news made waves in Italy where Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi angrily denounced the "improvident indiscretions" and said the investigation was not concluded.
Neither Rumsfeld nor General Richard Myers, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, would say whether investigators had cleared the soldier.
"It's an investigation. It was done together, intimately. And I think that we'll just have to wait and see what they come out with," Rumsfeld said.
"It's not final yet so we can't say," Myers said.
The army official said the investigation was concluded about two weeks ago but its release has been held up by differences between the US side and the Italians on at least two aspects of the March 4 incident.
They disagreed over the speed at which the vehicle approached the US checkpoint and issues related to how or whether the Italian's rescue mission was communicated to US authorities and passed down the chain of command.
Nicola Calipari, a top Italian intelligence agent, had secured the release of kidnapped Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena and was escorting her to the Baghdad International Airport when they came upon the US checkpoint.
The soldiers opened fire, killing Calipari and wounding Sgrena.
The US military said the vehicle had approached the checkpoint at a high rate of speed and failed to respond to signals to halt, including hand waving, flashing lights and warning shots. Sgrena has disputed that account, saying the vehicle was moving at a normal rate of speed.

04/26/2005 19:16 GMT