Professional Soldiers ® - Italians-- hostage deal with Terrs

_This story doesn't seem to be getting much play. So, I thought to pass it along.

Associated Press Writer
ROME (AP) — Italy’s Red Cross treated four Iraqi insurgents with
the knowledge of the Italian government last year and hid them from
U.S. forces in exchange for the freedom of two kidnapped aid
workers, a top Italian Red Cross official said in an interview
published Thursday.

Maurizio Scelli, the outgoing chief of the Italian Red Cross,
told the Turin newspaper La Stampa that he kept the deal secret
from U.S. officials, complying with “a nonnegotiable condition”
imposed by Iraqi mediators who helped him secure the release of
Italians Simona Pari and Simona Torretta. They were abducted in
Baghdad Sept. 7 and freed Sept. 28.

“The mediators asked us to save the lives of four alleged
terrorists wanted by the Americans who were wounded in combat,”
Scelli was quoted as saying. “We hid them and brought them to Red
Cross doctors, who operated on them.”

They took the wounded insurgents to a Baghdad hospital in a jeep
and an ambulance, smuggling them through two U.S. checkpoints under
blankets and boxes of medicines, Scelli said.

Also as part of the deal, four Iraqi children with leukemia were
brought to Italy for treatment, he said.

Scelli said he informed Premier Silvio Berlusconi’s government
of the deal and of the decision to hide it from the United States
through Gianni Letta, an undersecretary in charge of Italy’s
hostage crises in Iraq.

“Keeping quiet with the Americans about our efforts to free the
hostages was an irrevocable condition to guarantee the safety of
the hostages and ourselves,” he told La Stampa. He said Letta
agreed.

Officials at the Italian Red Cross headquarters in Rome said
Scelli was out of the office and could not be immediately
contacted.

In a statement Thursday, the Italian government stopped short of
denying it knew about the deal. It said Scelli acted independently
and that the government “never conditioned or oriented his action,
which ... was developed in complete autonomy.”

The statement also did not directly address if Italy had kept
the United States in the dark about Scelli’s efforts but reiterated
that Italy has always maintained a “full and reciprocal”
cooperation with its American allies in Iraq.

In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack
sidestepped questions on whether the United States has asked the
Italian government for an explanation.

“Our views, the United States policies with respect to
negotiation with hostage-takers are well known. We don’t do it,”
McCormack said, adding that Rome and Washington are “close
friends” and allies in the war on terror.

The head of the Italian parliamentary commission overseeing
secret services, Enzo Bianco, said the commission would hold
hearings soon with Scelli and government representatives, news
agency ANSA reported.

Opposition leaders called on the government to tell Parliament
what really happened and contended the alleged deal endangered Red
Cross neutrality.

“Scelli conducted an improper negotiation using the symbol of
the Red Cross as a shield,” said opposition lawmaker Tana De
Zulueta. “The Red Cross is obliged to offer assistance to all
parties involved in a conflict.”

The International Red Cross said it was not involved in or
informed of Scelli’s activities. It said the Italian Red Cross is
an independent organization that doesn’t answer to the Geneva-based
International Committee of the Red Cross.

“Scelli worked mostly in a personal capacity,” said
spokeswoman Antonella Notari. “I would not qualify what he did as
an Italian Red Cross activity.”

Notari would not comment on whether Scelli’s initiatives
violated the ICRC’s pledge of neutrality, saying the commission
needed more information from the Italian branch.

Iraqi Deputy Foreign Minister Labeed Abbawi, in Rome, declined
to comment about Scelli’s allegations, saying “we were not part of
that negotiation.”

“All we ask countries is that they should not give any
political or financial concessions” to insurgents, he added.
AP-WS-08-25-05 1538EDT