By Stephen Brown and Phil Stewart
ROME (Reuters) - Italy hopes to mend strained U.S. relations over indictments against CIA agents for kidnapping and a U.S. soldier for murder, Italy's foreign minister said, before meeting U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Monday.
But Massimo D'Alema said Washington had more responsibility than Rome in overcoming the "turbulence" in bilateral relations and intelligence cooperation."These are two episodes that have created some turbulence in our relations and we want to work to overcome this turbulence," D'Alema told Reuters in an interview hours before he was due to fly to Washington for a dinner meeting with Rice
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D'Alema said he would raise the issue with Rice and, asked what Italy could do to resolve the situation, said: "In truth, there would be several things that the United States should do, more than Italy". He did not elaborate.
On April 17, a Rome court will begin a murder trial against a U.S. soldier who shot dead an Italian intelligence agent in Iraq in 2005 as he was escorting a newly freed hostage to safety -- in what Washington has described as a "tragic" accident.
In June, a Milan court opens a trial against 26 Americans, most believed to be CIA agents, and Italian spies on charges of kidnapping a Muslim cleric in Milan and flying him to Egypt, where he says he was tortured.
Washington has refused a request from Rome to assist Italian magistrates investigating the Iraq shooting or to tell them where the American soldier Mario Lozano is currently stationed.
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