Rescue By Italian Agents and Shooting By US Soldiers
After being rescued by Nicola Calipari and another SISMI agent, Ms Sgrena was being transported by car to Baghdad International Airport. However, a roadblock, put in place to protect John Negroponte's car convoy, fired on the vehicle, causing the death of Calipari and the wounding of Sgrena and of the other agent. Sgrena testified that US forces fired on the car without warning, and this incident caused strain in diplomatic relations between Italy and the United States. In actuality, her car was fired on by U.S. soldiers because the Italian SISMI agents attempted to run the roadblock. The driver of the vehicle admitted this at the scene. Sgrena has contradicted the claims of the US military version of the story and has insisted that no warnings were given before the soldiers shot at their car. Sgrena said that out of 58 bullets fired at the car, 57 were fired at the passenger and only the last bullet was fired at the engine of the car, which shows that the intention was not just to stop the car.
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