Italy asks U.S. for 'maximum additional information' on hostage-killing drone strike

Giovanni Lo Porto was killed in a Jan. 15 U.S. drone strike — (Image credit: Twitter/@corriereit)

On Friday, Italian officials said that President Obama had used "maximum transparency" in informing Italy about the death of Italian hostage Giovanni Lo Porto at the hands of a U.S. drone, but that Italy wanted more information. "We want to assure that Italy will find the way to honor the memory of Giovanni," Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni told Parliament. "And we will work to acquire the maximum additional information possible on the circumstances of the tragic error recognized yesterday by President Obama."

Gentiloni said that Obama had informed Prime Minister Matteo Renzi of Lo Porto's death on Wednesday night, and Lo Porto's family on Thursday. He added that, based on the information available, the U.S. couldn't confirm the deaths of Lo Porto and American hostage Warren Weinstein for three months because the Jan. 15 strike was in an inaccessible part of Pakistan where hostages are not uncommon. The CIA knew something had gone wrong almost immediately, though, The New York Times reports, because six bodies were pulled from the wreckage, not the four they expected.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.