[JURIST] Italian prosecutors have filed an appeal of a Rome court's dismissal [JURIST report] of a criminal case against US Army Spc. Mario Lozano [defense website] for the alleged 2005 murder of Italian intelligence agent Nicola Calipari [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] and the attempted murders of agent Andrea Carpani and Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena [BBC profile] in Iraq, according to Tuesday media reports. The Italian agents and journalist were shot while entering a US checkpoint [JURIST report] on the way to the Baghdad airport after the agents secured the release of Sgrena from Iraqi kidnappers; US and Italian officials have failed to agree [JURIST report] on details surrounding Calipari's death.

In October 2007, the Rome court ruled that it lacked jurisdiction to hear the case. Prosecutor Franco Ionta said in January he would appeal the decision [JURIST report]. Lozano was tried in absentia [JURIST report] beginning in April last year, but the court accepted defense lawyers' arguments that the Italian court lacked jurisdiction [JURIST report], as members of multinational forces in Iraq were each under the sole jurisdiction of their home countries. Reuters has more.