via Tim Blair
Italy's adoration of the "two Simonas", the women aid workers abducted in Iraq, began to sour yesterday, as the extent of their sympathy for the Iraqi fight against the allied occupation became clear. In their first big interviews given since their release in return for a reported $1 million ransom on Tuesday, Simona Pari and Simona Torretta, both 29, gave their backing to insurgents opposing the allied forces.
Miss Pari, when asked why she and her colleague had not asked on their return for the release of other hostages, said: "We didn't know there were any other hostages. No one told us about the British prisoner, nor about the Americans who were beheaded. I say that every life has to be saved, that the right to life is sacred everywhere. If you ask me about terrorism, I'll tell you that there is terrorism and there is resistance. The resistance struggle of people against an occupying force is guaranteed by international law."
The women's comments are likely to cause renewed anger in government circles, following their call soon after their release for Italy's peacekeeping forces to be withdrawn. Miss Torretta admitted that was now studying Islam, although she denied that was planning to convert. The two women have also ruffled feathers by thanking Italy's Islamic community for working for their release before thanking the government and the Italian Red Cross. After they were taken hostage on Sept 7, the two Simonas achieved iconic status in Italy and the conservative government and the opposition put aside their differences to work together for the women's release. But as the Turin newspaper La Stampa said yesterday, national unity has been short lived since their arrival home, wearing kaftans and thanking their captors in Arabic for their release before the cameras of the Al-Jazeera stellite television network. |