Italian Officials Dispute Reports of Ransom
75160
Italy&#39;s government dismissed reports Wednesday that it paid $1 million to free two Italian aid workers who were kidnapped in Iraq and held for three weeks before being released Tuesday.
139712
Two Italian soldiers are believed to have been abducted while on patrol in western Afghanistan, Italy's Defence Ministry said on Sunday.
506003
Safely home in Italy, two women aid  workers spoke of returning to Iraq on Wednesday despite a  three-week hostage ordeal as their overjoyed nation shrugged  off reports that a ransom was paid to free them.
462635
The two Italian hostages recently released by captors in Iraq have stirred anger among some with their criticism of the country's participation in the war.
126823
Italy is investigating whether an Italian journalist abducted in Iraq was seized by insurgents or by ordinary criminals hoping for a ransom, a top Foreign Ministry official said Sunday.
608582
Italy's La Repubblica newspaper has rejected accusations by the kidnappers of its correspondent in Afghanistan that the journalist was a spy.
67936
Captors of two Italian hostages in Iraq have agreed to free the women, as early as this week, for a &#36;1 million ransom, a Kuwaiti daily said on Tuesday in a report splashed over the front pages of Italian newspapers.
239645
Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said the kidnappers of two Italian women in Iraq have not asked for a ransom to liberate them.
697913
The Italian Foreign Ministry said on  Wednesday it was investigating a claim by an Iraqi photographer  who said militants showed him the body of a man together with  an Italian passport.
333852
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's government on Sunday again denied it had paid a ransom for the release of two Italian women aid workers taken hostage in Iraq.
77382
The government in Rome, which was criticised for not doing enough to save the life of an Italian journalist held hostage in Iraq last month, was swift to react to the kidnapping there of two Italian women aid workers.
54448
Italians celebrated the freedom Wednesday of two women aid workers held captive in Iraq for three weeks, but the nationwide joy was diluted by questions about whether a ransom was paid, a capitulation to ...
724596
A Web posting in the name of a militant group in Iraq claimed Tuesday to have executed an Italian female journalist, but there was no way to determine the report's credibility.
320852
ROME, Sept 23  - Italy sought on Thursday to play down the credibility of two claims about the murder of two Italian aid workers, both young women, taken hostage in Iraq but failed to ease gnawing anguish over their fate.
14080
The Kuwaiti daily which predicted the  release of two Italian hostages in Iraq said on Wednesday that  the captors had originally demanded a $5 million ransom but  settled for $1 million in the end.
634786
The safe release of two Italian aid workers held hostage in Iraq led to questions Wednesday over whether a ransom was paid, highlighting the dilemma of many governments if the price of saving lives means caving in to terrorists.
100871
ROME  - The Italian government said Thursday that it doubted the authenticity of a second claim that two female aid workers had been killed in Iraq, but that it was still checking the report.