Berlusconi channel withdraws Iraq video

A television channel owned by Italy’s Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi blocked the broadcast Thursday of graphic footage of Italian troops in a firefight with insurgents in Iraq, on the grounds that it would mislead the public. Berlusconi’s Mediaset, which owns the Italia 1 channel, said the video taken by a carabinieri officer during a firefight with insurgents in southern Iraq in 2004 was ‘very confused,’ and ‘provides a representation of Italy’s military’s presence in Iraq which is far from everyday reality.’ However, the six-minute video was broadcast by the 24-hour news channel of state broadcaster RAI and Italian newspapers Friday gave widespread coverage to the video and Mediaset’s decision to block its transmission. The footage shows an Italian patrol returning fire after coming under attack and features one soldier shouting: ‘See that one running, take him out,’ and another saying ‘Look at that bastard moving, get him.’ (Middle East Online,December 12, 2005)

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