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Journalism of Courage
Premier Romano Prodi has come under fire for Italy’s strategy to negotiate and obtain the release of five Taliban militants in exchange for the freedom of an Italian journalist in Afghanistan.
This comes just days before a crucial parliamentary vote on keeping the country’s troops in Afghanistan. The move has drawn the ire of the conservative Opposition—whose backing might be necessary in the Senate vote next week—and criticism from Italy’s allies in the US and Europe.
A deputy foreign affairs minister said on Wednesday that the Afghan government had freed five Taliban prisoners to win the release of La Repubblica reporter Daniele Mastrogiacomo. He had been captured two weeks earlier.
Reactions came quickly,and soon the controversy overshadowed Italy’s joy over Mastrogiacomo’s release. While criticism came mainly from the conservative Opposition, some within Prodi’s ranks also expressed unease.
Former Premier Silvio Berlusconi—who also came under scrutiny amid unconfirmed allegations that his government paid ransom to free Italians abducted in Iraq, said: “We Italians are considered unreliable by our own allies.”
Berlusconi’s party Forza Italia and other Opposition parties are threatening to vote against a government decree that provides funding for Italian missions abroad, including the country’s 2,000 troops in Afghanistan.
US diplomats told their Italian counterparts in Rome and Washington that the swap raised safety concerns and increased the risk of kidnappings in Afghanistan, a senior State Department official said on Wednesday.
