Meanwhile, outrage at the US continues to build in Italy as more details emerge on last Friday’s incident. The U.S. military said the car carrying Sgrena and the Italian agents was speeding to the airport as it approached a checkpoint. A statement issued by the military said that soldiers shot into the engine block after trying to warn the driver to stop “by hand-and-arm signals, flashing white lights, and firing warning shots in front of the car.” But Sgrena said that version is absolutely false, telling an Italian television channel “there was no bright light, no signal,” and adding that the car was traveling at “regular speed.” Sgrena said she believes she may have been targeted because of US opposition to Italy’s policy on hostage negotiations, which many believe involves the paying of ransoms. The Italian government has virtually admitted a ransom was paid, with a senior official saying it was “very likely.” An Iraqi Member of Parliament told Belgian state television on Saturday that a $1m ransom was paid. But Italian media reports spoke of a payment of up to $8m. Sgrena says that before she was released her hostage-takers had warned her that the US did not want her to return to Italy alive. She said she just took that as one final threat from her captors, until the convoy started making it’s way to the airport. She says that without warning or provocation, US troops opened fire on the car.