LONDON // The British government remained defiant last night in the face of outrage in Italy over a failed military operation to rescue two westerners held hostage by a militant Islamist group in Nigeria.
The Italian president, Giorgio Napolitano, said yesterday it was "inexplicable" that his government was not consulted about the decision to go ahead with the joint UK-Nigerian operation, which resulted in the two hostages - one an Italian - being killed.
"The behaviour of the British government in not informing Italy is inexplicable," he told reporters in Rome. "A political and diplomatic clarification is necessary."
Construction workers Chris McManus, 28, a Briton, and the Italian Franco Lamolinara, 47, were shot dead by their captors on Thursday as the rescue mission by Nigerian troops and British special forces got underway at a compound in Sokoto in the north-west of the country.
The deaths of the hostages, who were kidnapped at gunpoint last May by members of Boko Haram, prompted a chorus of protests from politicians yesterday because Britain had only informed the Italian government about the operation when it was already underway.
As the prime minister, Mario Monti, held a security committee meeting yesterday to review the rescue bid, the former prime minister Massimo D'Alema, who is now president of the parliamentary security committee, called for a full explanation "on the reasons why the British government did not inform our own".
Lucio Malan, a senator, added that it seemed incomprehensible that the Italians were not involved in the decision to go ahead with the operation.
"It is quite uncommon that a country that is involved is not informed before," he told the BBC. "Apparently, it was a very difficult situation and it might have been the best decision, but it is still to be explained why the Italian authorities haven't been informed."
However, the UK prime minister, David Cameron, said: "After months of not knowing where they were being held, we received credible information about their location. A window of opportunity arose to secure their release.
"We also had reason to believe that their lives were under imminent and growing danger. The terrorists holding the two hostages made very clear threats to take their lives, including in a video that was posted on the internet.
"Preparations were made to mount an operation to attempt to rescue Chris and Franco. Together with the Nigerian government, I authorised it to go ahead, with UK support."
Although the Associated Press quoted a Nigerian official as saying the two hostages were killed in crossfire during the rescue bid, Mr Cameron said the pair were "murdered by their captors before they could be rescued".
Government sources in London yesterday said that, although the Italians had been kept informed when intelligence emerged some weeks ago of the hostages' location, the details of the rescue bid had been kept secret.
"It is essential in this type of covert operation that it remains covert - simply put, the fewer people who know, the better," he said.
A spokesman for Mr Cameron added yesterday afternoon: "An option was always a rescue operation. We have been keeping (the Italians) informed throughout. Things moved quite quickly in recent days and we had to respond to that. The prime minister was asked for authorisation and gave that authorisation, but this was a Nigerian-led operation.
"In any situation such as this, we need to take the advice of those people on the ground closest to the situation. Their very strong advice was that it was important to act and to act quickly and that that was the best chance of getting these people out. Early indications are that both men were murdered by their captors before they could be rescued."
The two men, who worked for an Italian construction company, were both believed to have been killed as a battle raged for more than an hour at their compound. About 20 marines from Britain's elite Special Boat Squadron were involved along with Nigerian troops, supported by at least one tank, according to local news reports yesterday.
In a statement, the Nigerian president, Goodluck Jonathan, commended the "cooperation and understanding of the British and Italian governments" and said that "the perpetrators of the murderous act" had been arrested would face "the full wrath of the law".
There were reports that at least two of the militants had been shot dead while Sky News said that eight of the captors had been arrested.
dsapsted@thenational.ae
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
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Blackpink World Tour [Born Pink] In Cinemas
Starring: Rose, Jisoo, Jennie, Lisa
Directors: Min Geun, Oh Yoon-Dong
Rating: 3/5
THE SPECS
Engine: 3.5-litre V6
Transmission: six-speed manual
Power: 325bhp
Torque: 370Nm
Speed: 0-100km/h 3.9 seconds
Price: Dh230,000
On sale: now
Sreesanth's India bowling career
Tests 27, Wickets 87, Average 37.59, Best 5-40
ODIs 53, Wickets 75, Average 33.44, Best 6-55
T20Is 10, Wickets 7, Average 41.14, Best 2-12
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Another way to earn air miles
In addition to the Emirates and Etihad programmes, there is the Air Miles Middle East card, which offers members the ability to choose any airline, has no black-out dates and no restrictions on seat availability. Air Miles is linked up to HSBC credit cards and can also be earned through retail partners such as Spinneys, Sharaf DG and The Toy Store.
An Emirates Dubai-London round-trip ticket costs 180,000 miles on the Air Miles website. But customers earn these ‘miles’ at a much faster rate than airline miles. Adidas offers two air miles per Dh1 spent. Air Miles has partnerships with websites as well, so booking.com and agoda.com offer three miles per Dh1 spent.
“If you use your HSBC credit card when shopping at our partners, you are able to earn Air Miles twice which will mean you can get that flight reward faster and for less spend,” says Paul Lacey, the managing director for Europe, Middle East and India for Aimia, which owns and operates Air Miles Middle East.
The%20specs
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Match info
Uefa Champions League Group B
Barcelona v Tottenham Hotspur, midnight
War 2
Director: Ayan Mukerji
Stars: Hrithik Roshan, NTR, Kiara Advani, Ashutosh Rana
Rating: 2/5
The stats
Ship name: MSC Bellissima
Ship class: Meraviglia Class
Delivery date: February 27, 2019
Gross tonnage: 171,598 GT
Passenger capacity: 5,686
Crew members: 1,536
Number of cabins: 2,217
Length: 315.3 metres
Maximum speed: 22.7 knots (42kph)
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh650,000
The%20Specs%20
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ZAYED SUSTAINABILITY PRIZE
Results
5pm Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,400m
Winner No Riesgo Al Maury, Szczepan Mazur (jockey), Ibrahim Al Hadhrami (trainer)
5.30pm Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 1,600m
Winner Marwa W’Rsan, Sam Hitchcott, Jaci Wickham.
6pm Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 1,600m
Winner Dahess D’Arabie, Al Moatasem Al Balushi, Helal Al Alawi.
6.30pm Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 2,200m
Winner Safin Al Reef, Connor Beasley, Abdallah Al Hammadi.
7pm Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 2,200m
Winner Thulbaseera Al Jasra, Shakir Al Balushi, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami.
7.30pm Maiden (TB) Dh 80,000 2,200m
Winner Autumn Pride, Szczepan Mazur, Helal Al Alawi.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol
Power: 154bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Transmission: 7-speed automatic with 8-speed sports option
Price: From Dh79,600
On sale: Now
How Alia's experiment will help humans get to Mars
Alia’s winning experiment examined how genes might change under the stresses caused by being in space, such as cosmic radiation and microgravity.
Her samples were placed in a machine on board the International Space Station. called a miniPCR thermal cycler, which can copy DNA multiple times.
After the samples were examined on return to Earth, scientists were able to successfully detect changes caused by being in space in the way DNA transmits instructions through proteins and other molecules in living organisms.
Although Alia’s samples were taken from nematode worms, the results have much bigger long term applications, especially for human space flight and long term missions, such as to Mars.
It also means that the first DNA experiments using human genomes can now be carried out on the ISS.
Disclaimer
Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Stars: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Lesley Manville
Rating: 4/5
Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The Bio
Favourite Emirati dish: I have so many because it has a lot of herbs and vegetables. Harees (oats with chicken) is one of them
Favourite place to go to: Dubai Mall because it has lots of sports shops.
Her motivation: My performance because I know that whatever I do, if I put the effort in, I’ll get results
During her free time: I like to drink coffee - a latte no sugar and no flavours. I do not like cold drinks
Pet peeve: That with every meal they give you a fries and Pepsi. That is so unhealthy
Advice to anyone who wants to be an ironman: Go for the goal. If you are consistent, you will get there. With the first one, it might not be what they want but they should start and just do it
