PDA

View Full Version : Italy Calls for Standards in Dealing With Kidnappings



thedrifter
04-12-07, 07:49 PM
Italy Calls for Standards in Dealing With Kidnappings

By IAN FISHER
Published: April 12, 2007

ROME, April 12 — Italy’s fragile government, under fire for making a deal to free an Italian journalist in Afghanistan, on Thursday proposed international standards for confronting the rising number of high-profile kidnappings in war zones.

The Italian move came as new appeals went out for Alan Johnston, the BBC reporter kidnapped at gunpoint in Gaza a month ago. In New York, the United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, called for Mr. Johnston’s release, saying that freedom of the press should be protected “as a matter of principle.”

There has been no word from Mr. Johnston, 44, since he disappeared on March 12. On Thursday, however, a Palestinian official, Saeb Erekat, said the government “has been reassured by many sources that Mr. Johnston is alive.”

Hostage-taking has long been a threat in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, although concerns have recently risen on several fronts. Among them was the two-week detention of 15 British sailors and marines by Iran, which accused them of trespassing in its national waters. All were released unharmed last week, amid allegations, denied by the British government, that an exchange was made for an Iranian diplomat arrested in Iraq.

Here in Italy, the government has faced criticism at home and abroad for pressuring the Afghan government to release five Taliban prisoners for Daniele Mastrogiacomo, a reporter for La Repubblica, kidnapped last month. The United States, Britain and other nations contended that the deal would encourage more kidnappings.

Inside Italy, that criticism rose on Sunday after Mr. Mastrogiacomo’s Afghan interpreter, Ajmal Naqshbandi, was killed by the Taliban, which were demanding the release of two other prisoners.

On Thursday, Massimo D’Alema, foreign minister for Italy’s center-left government, strongly defended the deal to free Mr. Mastrogiacomo.

“We acted on the basis of one criterion: that of giving priority to the safety of the hostages,” he said in a speech to the lower house of Parliament. “This is an established principle, used over the years by various governments and always supported.”

In this case, he said, Italy had been tricked, because it believed that the trade for Mr. Mastrogiacomo had included Mr. Naqshbandi as well. More generally, he said he believed that there should always be room for negotiations if it would save a hostage’s life.

“At the same time, I think it’s time to explore the possibility of guidelines shared on an international level, a code of shared behavior,” he said. “I think, for example, in the case of Afghanistan, of a discussion at NATO.”

Center-right opposition leaders have accused the government of putting undue pressure on the Afghan government to swap the prisoners, and for caring more about the life of an Italian journalist than his Afghan interpreter. Mr. Mastrogiacomo’s driver was also killed shortly after he was kidnapped in southern Afghanistan.

In the West Bank city of Ramallah, the BBC’s director general, Mark Thompson, said at a news conference that he had met with the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, on Wednesday evening to discuss Mr. Johnston, and that Mr. Abbas had told him there was “credible evidence” that Mr. Johnston was safe and well.

In Gaza City, Palestinian journalists rallied for Mr. Johnston’s release, and they drove a convoy of cars through the city’s streets.

About 18 foreign journalists and aid workers have been kidnapped in Gaza in the past year, but most have been released unharmed, within hours or days.

Isabel Kershner contributed reporting from Jerusalem.

Ellie