The U.S. military confirmed on Saturday that it will not discipline troops who shot dead an Italian intelligence agent in Baghdad two months ago. A 42-page report into the killing of Nicola Calipari and the wounding of the Italian journalist whose freedom he had just secured from kidnappers found that the Italians had failed to tell U.S. troops of their plans to drive into Baghdad airport and had ignored warning lights intended to make them stop, Reuters reported. "The ... investigation concluded that the vehicle approaching the checkpoint failed to reduce speed until fired upon and that the soldiers manning the checkpoint acted in accordance with the rules of engagement," the U.S. military in Baghdad said in a statement accompanying the report. Brigadier General Peter Vangjel's report was distributed by the U.S. military in Baghdad. He recommended a number of technical changes -- some of which were blanked out in the published document -- to U.S. checkpoint procedures in Iraq. Among other findings, was also the following point: "Recommend that no disciplinary action be taken against any soldier in the incident." "Prior coordination might have prevented this tragedy," he wrote in his conclusion, saying that the Italian agents had kept their March 4 mission to free journalist Giuliana Sgrena secret from their U.S. allies, considering it a "national issue".
