Giuliana Sgrena

Sgrena in 2016

Giuliana Sgrena (born 20 December 1948) is an Italian journalist who works for the Italian communist newspaper il manifesto and the German weekly Die Zeit. While working in Iraq, she was kidnapped by insurgents on 4 February 2005. After her release on 4 March, Sgrena and the two Italian intelligence officers who had helped secure her release came under fire from U.S. forces while on their way to Baghdad International Airport. Nicola Calipari, a major general in the Italian Military Intelligence and Security Service (SISMI) was killed, and Sgrena and Andrea Carpani, the other Italian officer taking her to the airport, were wounded in the incident. The event caused an international outcry.