as the Second Battle of Fallujah, where, she argues, only unembedded reporters were able to report the level of destruction in the city and the ferocity of urban warfare, which according to her included the use of napalm. She was later shown in a video pleading that the demands of her kidnappers, the withdrawal of Italian troops from Iraq, be fulfilled. Her release was subsequently negotiated and she was freed on 4 March 2005. Italy allegedly paid $US6 million in ransom for her release. Rescue After being rescued by Nicola Calipari and another SISMI agent, Sgrena was being transported by car to Baghdad International Airport. However, a roadblock, put in place to protect John Negroponte's car convoy, fired on the vehicle, causing the death of Calipari, and wounding Sgrena and the other agent. Sgrena testified that US forces fired on the car without warning, and this incident caused strain in diplomatic relations between Italy and the United States. The U.S. soldiers claimed that they were duped into firing on the vehicle by an Al-Qaeda agent's false lead that a bomb was in the vehicle carrying Sgrena . Sgrena has contradicted the US claims and has insisted that no warnings were given before the soldiers shot at their car. Sgrena said that out of 58 bullets fired at the car, 57 were fired at the passenger and only the last bullet was fired at the engine, which shows that the intention was not to stop the car. Aftermath Sgrena was awarded the Stuttgart peace prize in 2005. In a November 2005 RAI documentary, Fallujah, The Hidden Massacre, Sgrena declared that the U.S. had used white phosphorus and napalm in Fallujah during Operation Phantom Fury. On 26 June 2006, Sgrena offered to meet with Mario Lozano, the US National Guardsman who had shot at her car. Selected works "Alla scuola dei taleban", Editore Manifestolibri (collana Talpa di biblioteca), 2002. "Il fronte Iraq. Diario di una guerra permanente", Editore Manifestolibri (collana Talpa di biblioteca), 2004. "Fuoco amico", Editore Feltrinelli (collana Serie bianca), 2005. "Il prezzo del velo. La guerra dell'Islam contro le donne", Editore Feltrinelli (collana Serie bianca) 2008. References Footnotes Sources External links Giuliana Sgrena profile (BBC) 21st-century Italian journalists 21st-century Italian women writers 1948 births Communist women writers Foreign hostages in Iraq Italian communists Italian pacifists Italian people taken hostage Italian trade unionists Italian war correspondents Italian women trade unionists Italian