Nicola Calipari

Who was Nicola Calipari?

Nicola Calipari was an Italian major general and SISMI military intelligence officer. Calipari was killed by American soldiers while escorting a recently released Italian hostage, journalist Giuliana Sgrena, to Baghdad International Airport.

During the 1990s, he was involved in several rescues of people kidnapped by 'Ndrangheta and other criminal organizations. He had spent most of his career inside the Italian police, rising to prominent positions, before joining the Italian military Security and Intelligence Service two years before his death.

Calipari's death sparked one of the most serious diplomatic incidents between U.S. and Italy since the end of World War II. Other such incidents include the Sigonella crisis, the Cavalese cable car disaster in 1998, the Gladio scandal and the abduction of Islamic cleric Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr in 2003.