The United States and Italy remain commitment to work together as allies in helping the people of Iraq and in confronting common challenges throughout the world, deputy State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said on Friday.

Commenting a joint announcement on the joint investigation of the March 4 killing of Italian agent by US troops in Baghdad, Ereli said, "we all agree that this was a tragic event."

"But this tragic event will not harm or hurt the long-standing friendship between the people of the United States and the people of Italy, or the commitment of the United States and Italy to work together as allies in helping the people of Iraq and in confronting common challenges throughout the world," Ereli said.

Italian agent, Nicola Calipari, was shot by US soldiers on March 4 at a temporary checkpoint on the road to Baghdad airport while escorting a freed Italian hostage Giuliana Sgrena. Another intelligence agent and Sgrena were wounded in the incident, which caused outrage in Italy.

Ereli declined to say who was at fault in the shooting, saying an official investigation report about the incident will be soon released by the US Department of Defense.

It was reported that dissatisified with the results of a joint investigation with the US, Italy has begun its own probe into the March 4 killing.

(Xinhua News Agency April 30, 2005)