Front page editorial in Corriere della Sera describes failed rescue attempt as a humiliation for Italy
Italian politicians and newspapers accused Britain of giving Italy "a slap in the face" by allegedly not informing it of the special-forces raid in Nigeria on Thursday that left one Italian and one British hostage dead.
"What happened in Nigeria is extraordinarily grave because governments are usually informed if they have co-nationals among hostages – they are warned and consulted," said Fabrizio Cicchito, the leader of Silvio Berlusconi's Freedom People party in the lower house of the Italian parliament.
David Cameron telephoned the Italian prime minister, Mario Monti, on Friday only after the raid by British special forces in Nigeria had failed, prompting a curt note from Monti that the raid had been "initiated autonomously by Nigerian authorities with British support, informing Italian authorities only after the raid had begun".
Monti then telephoned the Nigerian president, Goodluck Jonathan, to demand a "detailed reconstruction" of events leading to the death of the Italian hostage Franco Lamolinara.
An emergency meeting of Italy's parliamentary oversight committee for the secret services was under way on Friday morning to consider Britain's decision to keep Italy in the dark about the raid.
The leading Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera was highly critical of the operation, stating in a front page editorial on Friday that it was "an unacceptable slap and excuses are not good enough", adding that the affair was a "humiliation" for Italy.
The newspaper quoted an unnamed source in Nigeria claiming it was likely the two hostages had been mistakenly shot by the Nigerian rescuers who took part in the operation. "Often during these types of operation, the soldiers have shown they are trained to put down heavy fire, kill a few people and if all goes well just apologise. This news does not arrive in Europe because it does not involve the kidnapping of foreigners."
Corriere della Sera contrasted Italy's habit of negotiating for the return of hostages, citing Italy's release of Taliban prisoners in Afghanistan in 2007 in return for the freeing of an Italian journalist, with the British and American policy of refusing talks.
When British and Italian special forces teamed up to free two Italian secret service agents taken prisoner in Afghanistan in 2007, one died during the operation.
Thursday's raid, the paper said, proved that Britain was motivated by "nostalgia for its imperial glory" that prompted it to act unilaterally. Its treatment of Italy showed it treated the country as "hardly reliable".
Monti's government has come under fire at home for failing to free two Italian marines held in custody in India on suspicion of mistakenly shooting and killing Indian fisherman from the ship they were guarding against pirates in the Indian Ocean.
Italian politicians said the Nigerian raid proved Monti's cabinet of technical experts, summoned to the government after the collapse of Berlusconi's administration, was failing to establish influence in international diplomacy.
"Technical experts can be technical experts but cannot do politics," said Daniela Santanche, a former minister in Berlusconi's last government. "One thing is international relations, another thing is balancing budgets."