Italy slams UK for Nigeria failed mission

“The behavior of the British government in not informing Italy is inexplicable,” said Napolitano on Friday.

The Italian president also called for “a political and diplomatic clarification” over a joint operation by British and Nigerian special forces that resulted in the deaths of a Briton and an Italian held hostage in the African country.

The Nigerian militants took hostage British citizen Chris McManus and Italian Franco Lamolinara last May while they were working for a construction company in northwest Nigeria.

British Prime Minister David Cameron claimed that the hostages were shot dead by their captors and that his government informed the Italian authorities after the operation began.

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan blamed the killing on the militant group Boko Haram and said the perpetrators had been arrested.

In a meeting with his British counterpart William Hague at a meeting in Copenhagen after the incident, Italian Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi expressed “deep sorrow and disappointment over the tragic outcome of the operation.”

He also informed Hague about “the enormous pain caused to an Italian family due to what happened.”

“Under these circumstances it was only possible to inform Italy once the operation was already getting underway,” said the British foreign office in a statement after the unofficial meeting.

DB/MA

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