U.S. President George W. Bush and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi had a "long and friendly" telephone conversation on Wednesday as both countries moved to end a row over the killing of an Italian agent in Iraq. Berlusconi's office said in a statement that Bush had telephoned the Italian leader and again expressed his condolences for the death of Nicola Calipari, who was shot dead at a U.S. military roadblock near Baghdad airport in March, Reuters reported. "The two countries remain firmly committed to the people and government of Iraq and for the reconstruction of a stable, free and democratic Iraq," the statement said. The Italian statement added that Bush had called Calipari "a heroic servant" of Italy and asked Berlusconi to pass on his sympathies to Calipari's family.
