Italy paid ransom for hostages in Iraq: police

Italy paid millions of dollars in ransom for the release of Italian hostages in Iraq over an 11-month period beginning in April 2004, a medi...

Italy paid millions of dollars in ransom for the release of Italian hostages in Iraq over an 11-month period beginning in April 2004, a media report today said quoting a Carabinieri inquiry as saying.

The government of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has consistently denied reports it secretly negotiated payments with kidnappers of Italian nationals in defiance of its us and British allies in Iraq.

According to the report published in Left-leaning La Repubblica newspaper, the money was handed over to Abdel Salam al Kubaissi, a member of the Ulema Council of religious leaders who acted as the principal mediator in their release. It added that al Kubaissi was also involved in the kidnappings of four Italian bodyguards and the subsequent abductions of two Italian aid workers, Italian journalists Enzo Baldoni and Giuliana Sgrena and British national Margaret Hassan.

The money was handed over via Italy’s military intelligence sismi and the Italian Red Cross which acted as intermediary in the negotiations, according to the report.

Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree said the designation gives law enforcement “enhanced powers to combat a group that has instilled fear through violence and intimidation”.

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