Italy paid ransom for hostages in Iraq: police

"ROME, JANUARY 30: Italy paid millions of dollars in ransom for the release of Italian hostages in Iraq over an 11-month period beginning in April 2004, a media report today said quoting a Carabinieri inquiry as saying.

The government of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has consistently denied reports it secretly negotiated payments with kidnappers of Italian nationals in defiance of its us and British allies in Iraq.

According to the report published in Left-leaning La Repubblica newspaper, the money was handed over to Abdel Salam al Kubaissi, a member of the Ulema Council of religious leaders who acted as the principal mediator in their release. It added that al Kubaissi was also involved in the kidnappings of four Italian bodyguards and the subsequent abductions of two Italian aid workers, Italian journalists Enzo Baldoni and Giuliana Sgrena and British national Margaret Hassan. "
The Indian Express

Damn fools! I hope they are happy with themselves, they have financed the murder of thousand of Iraqis. They should be proud, as that's quite and achievement. Europe is in my opinion still consumed by it's racist past. this can be seen in it's attitude towards Iraq and a place closer to my heart Cuba. They seem to take enjoyment from watching others suffer. It's going to catch up to them one day...