Italy will not sign off on report

WASHINGTON -- While US investigators have concluded that American soldiers who shot and killed an Italian intelligence officer at a Baghdad checkpoint followed instructions for dealing with potential threats, Italian government said the inquiry will continue.

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and General Richard Myers, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, acknowledged yesterday that Italian officials who participated in the investigation have still not signed off on the report's conclusions. They provided no details about the report at a Pentagon briefing.

But a senior US defense official said the investigation into the March 4 friendly fire shooting is expected to raise concerns about the rules of engagement in Baghdad. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the report has not been finished.

''My latest information is that they have not come to a final agreement on a joint report," Rumsfeld said of US and Italian investigators.

''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," he added.

Myers said the final report will be issued in Baghdad.

According to Italian news reports, Italian officials disagreed with the US findings and were refusing to sign it. Ben Duffy, a US Embassy spokesman in Rome, said the United States was still hoping for a combined report.

In Rome, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, a US ally facing strong opposition at home to his decision to send troops to Iraq after the US-led invasion, assured Parliament yesterday that the investigation into the killing was not over.

Berlusconi apologized for what he called ''an unfortunate leak" suggesting that the investigation was completed. He spoke shortly after the US ambassador to Italy met with the premier's top aide to see if crucial differences over the investigation could be worked out.

The rules of engagement direct soldiers to use warnings, then deadly force, against potential threats as they approach, and are designed to avoid mistaken shootings while also protecting soldiers from suicide bombers.

The US official, who spoke Monday, left open whether soldiers at the temporary checkpoint during the shooting could face criticism for their performance. However, a conclusion that they followed orders would make it less likely they would be accused of making significant mistakes.

The Italian officer, Nicola Calipari, died trying to shield a hostage he had just helped free from her insurgent captors. He was killed when US soldiers at the checkpoint fired on his car as it approached them. The hostage and an Italian officer who was driving were wounded.

Soldiers at the checkpoint said the car was speeding toward the checkpoint, and the driver ignored warnings to stop The US Third Infantry Division said the soldiers ''attempted to warn the driver to stop by hand and arm signals, flashing white lights, and firing warning shots in front of the car."