US troops in northern Iraq fired on a car carrying the Italian official leading U.S. attempts to recover Iraq's looted antiquities, killing his Iraqi aide, it was reported on Friday. The Italian, Pietro Cordone, was not hit.
Cordone, who is the senior adviser for cultural affairs of the U.S. provisional authority and the top Italian diplomat in occupied Iraq, was traveling on the road between Mosul and Tikrit on Thursday when his car was fired on at a U.S. roadblock, said an Italian Foreign Ministry source.
The official said American troops fired at the car, and that Cordone's Iraqi interpreter was killed.
Cordone, an Egyptian-born Arabic speaker, has held numerous posts in the Italian Diplomatic Corps. Most of his postings have been in Middle Eastern and Arabic-speaking countries. He succeeded Ambassador John Limbert to his current post in May 2003.
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
