URL http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E04E0DC153FF933A25757C0A9619C8B63

DATE/ AUTHOR None	AUTHORS: Peter Kiefer

H Italian Leader Faces New Attack on Prisoner Swap After Reported Death of Journalist’s Aide

S1 The government of Prime Minister Romano Prodi came under fierce attack on Monday after the Taliban said it had killed an Afghan hostage who was a colleague of the Italian journalist freed last month in a prisoner swap.

S2 That journalist, Daniele Mastrogiacomo of La Repubblica, was freed on March 19 in exchange for five Taliban fighters released by the Afghan government.
S3 Italy had lobbied Pakistan to make a deal.
S4 At the time, the Italian government spokesman said, ''We think that the life of a person is very precious.''

S5 But on Sunday, the Taliban said it killed Mr. Mastrogiacomo's translator, Ajmal Naqshbandi, after failing to arrange another prisoner swap.
S6 Taliban fighters had already killed the men's driver.

S7 The swap that led to Mr. Mastrogiacomo's release was roundly condemned by the United States, Britain and other allies, which argued that deals with terrorists only make civilians more vulnerable.

S8 On Monday, there were fresh complaints in Italy by opposition parties and by a charity group that claimed that the government had paid millions of dollars to free an earlier hostage in Afghanistan.
S9 That group, Emergency, acted as a mediator in the case of Mr. Mastrogiacomo.

S10 Gino Strada, the leader of the group, said Monday that Mr. Prodi's government paid $2 million in ransom that freed Gabriele Torsello, a journalist kidnapped in October.

S11 In a statement, Mr. Prodi's office did not deny the payment but said it was applying the same practices established under the previous government of Silvio Berlusconi.

S12 ''The negotiations for the freeing of hostages have been conducted in a correct way and in tight collaboration with the Afghan government,'' read a statement from Mr. Prodi's office.
S13 ''Our priority has always been one: saving human lives.''

S14 Mr. Prodi condemned the execution of Mr. Naqshbandi and accused the opposition party of using his death for political gain.

S15 Mr. Strada of Emergency urged the government to assist Rahamtullah Hanafi, who works for the group and is being detained by the Kabul government on suspicion of playing a part in Mr. Mastrogiacomo's kidnapping.
S16 Mr. Strada said that Mr. Hanafi was innocent and that he had delivered $2 million to the Taliban to free Mr. Torsello.

S17 On Monday evening, Mr. Prodi told reporters that he had contacted Afghanistan's president, Hamid Karzai, to request the release of Mr. Hanafi but that the decision was up to the Kabul government.

S18 Opposition party members criticized the Prodi government.

S19 Sandro Bondi of the center-right Forza Italia party said he would seek a full a parliamentary inquiry and called on Mr. Prodi to resign.
S20 A right-wing senator, Roberto Calderoli, accused the government of discriminating between Italian and Afghan hostages and called for Mr. Prodi's impeachment.

S21 ''The government negotiated in a discriminatory fashion, rushing to save what they saw as the A-league hostage and leaving the other, second-class captives to their tragic destiny,'' he told reporters.

S22 THE REACH OF WAR

S23 Correction:  April 12, 2007, Thursday  Because of an editing error, an article yesterday about mounting criticism of the Italian government's policy in a hostage crisis in Afghanistan misstated the nation that Italy had urged to release prisoners belonging to the Taliban in order to win the release of a kidnapped Italian journalist.
S24 It was Afghanistan, not Pakistan.

