ROME, Aug 25: The Italian Red Cross treated ‘four presumed Iraqi terrorists’ at its Baghdad hospital in order to secure last year’s release of two kidnapped Italian aid workers, a senior Red Cross official was quoted as saying on Thursday.

Maurizio Scelli, the outgoing commissioner of the Italian Red Cross, said the deal to free the two Italian women, Simona Pari and Simona Torretta, was kept secret from US officials.

“The mediators asked us to treat and save the lives of four presumed terrorists sought by the Americans, wounded in combat. We hid them and brought them to the doctors with the Red Cross, who operated on them,” Scelli told La Stampa daily in an interview.

“We also treated four of their children, sick with leukaemia.”

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s office, which has denied previous accusations it paid a ransom to win the aid workers’ release, said on Thursday the Red Cross was independent and did not answer to the government.

“The government of the (Italian) Republic and its offices have never conditioned or influenced (Red Cross) operations which are carried out in full autonomy,” a statement said.

Cooperation between Italy and the United States had always been ‘close and reciprocal’ in Iraq, it added.

Scelli, who was present at the Sept. 28 handover of the two aid workers, said he was deeply involved in negotiations to free the women.

He told La Stampa the decision to hide details about the operation from US officials was approved by Gianni Letta, Berlusconi’s right-hand man.

“Keeping the Americans in the dark about our efforts to free the hostages was a non-negotiable condition to guarantee the safety of the hostages and ourselves,” he said.

Scelli said he had consulted at the time with Italian intelligence agent Nicola Calipari, who was shot dead in March this year by US troops at a Baghdad checkpoint during a subsequent rescue operation for another Italian hostage.

Italy and the United States issued differing reports on Calipari’s killing, with the US military pinning much of the blame on the Italians, partly for failing to communicate that a rescue operation was underway.—AFP