[JURIST] Italy's highest court of appeal, the Court of Cassation [official site, in Italian], Thursday ruled that Italian courts lack jurisdiction to try a US soldier accused of shooting an intelligence agent in Iraq. Last year, Italian prosecutors filed an appeal of a Rome court's dismissal [JURIST report] of the 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 journalist Giuliana Sgrena [BBC profile]. Lozano was tried in absentia [JURIST report] beginning in April last year, but the court accepted defense lawyers' arguments that it lacked jurisdiction [JURIST report], as members of multinational forces in Iraq were each under the sole jurisdiction of their home countries. AP has more.

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. A US investigation cleared US soldiers of wrongdoing, while an Italian probe [JURIST reports] concluded the killing was accidental but found that there were serious miscommunications and confusion about the rules of engagement for checkpoints.