ROME, April 28: Italy said on Thursday it would not endorse a US report expected to exonerate the US soldiers who shot dead an Italian agent in Iraq if it was unconvinced by the findings. Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, speaking minutes after his new cabinet won a final confidence vote in parliament, told journalists that Italy “will not sign off on anything that does not convince us”.

He said both countries were having difficulties reconciling their positions in a joint report into the death of military intelligence officer Nicola Calipari, who was shot dead after a hostage rescue in Baghdad last month.

According to preliminary findings leaked in Washington this week that were widely seen in Italy as an insult, US soldiers followed their rules of engagement and should face no charges of dereliction of duty over the incident.

The US army is conducting the inquiry with the participation of a diplomat and an army general from Italy.

“There is nothing new, we know the difficulties of the other side,” said Mr Berlusconi, who had earlier declined comment until the end of the investigation.

“If the conclusions differ, we will go with different conclusions,” he said.

Nicola Calipari died on March 4 when troops at a US checkpoint opened fire as he was driving to Baghdad airport with Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena after obtaining her release from kidnappers.

Rome has disagreed with the report’s findings on the car’s speed and whether the Italians kept US troops informed, according to a US Army official.—Reuters