Italy Disputes U.S. Report on Agent's Death

The Italian report dismissed U.S. claims that the car was speeding as it approached the checkpoint, saying that the conclusion was based on soldiers' testimony, not an investigation of the scene.

Not only did the two armored vehicles stationed there depart to take Sgrena to a hospital, but U.S. forces quickly removed Calipari's bullet-scarred Toyota Corolla.

"That made it impossible to technically reconstruct the event, to determine the exact position of the vehicles and measure the distances, and to obtain precise data defining the precise trajectory of the bullets, the speed of the car and the stopping distance," the report concluded.

The Italians said U.S. investigators failed to count the bullets fired and prohibited an Italian general, Mario Marioli, from visiting the site of the shooting.

In a terse critique of U.S. handling of roadblocks, the Italians wrote that the Americans generally resist supplying data and statistics "concerning 'fratricidal' incidents" and civilian casualties at checkpoints. The statement echoes complaints by human rights monitors who say the United States refuses to divulge or take blame for deaths of innocent civilians on Iraqi roads.

The U.S. military in Iraq is conducting an inquiry into the mistaken release of the full classified report and is assessing the magnitude of the security breach, the defense official said. U.S. commanders will alter procedures and adopt countermeasures as necessary, he said.

Classified sections of the 30-page report provide a variety of sensitive information.

For example, it indicated the number and timing of insurgent attacks -- well over 100 along the Baghdad airport road in the half-year leading up to the checkpoint shooting. It named checkpoints that were especially susceptible to attack. It also included an assessment of insurgent bombing tactics and the U.S. ability to counter them, highlighting suicide car bombs as a threat that, once in motion, are extremely difficult to identify.

In terms of U.S. rules of engagement, the report described specific steps that soldiers are allowed to take in escalating the level of force to stop approaching vehicles. It outlined the different types of U.S. checkpoints, ranging from permanent, to short-term or "hasty," to "flying" roadblocks erected with little or no planning.

The report also disclosed the names of American soldiers and Italians in the incident, which the Pentagon had withheld, citing privacy.

The disclosure of the classified report was not intentional, said the U.S. defense official, who voiced concern that the Italian news media could view the inadvertent release as conspiratorial.

Tyson reported from Washington.