Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena claimed American soldiers gave no warning before they opened fire and said Sunday she could not rule out that U.S. forces intentionally shot at the car carrying her to the Baghdad airport, wounding her and killing the Italian agent who had just won her freedom after a month in captivity.

An Italian Cabinet member urged Sgrena, who writes for a communist newspaper that routinely opposes U.S. policy in Iraq, to be cautious in her accounts and said the shooting would not affect Italy's support for the Bush administration.

The White House called the shooting a "horrific accident" and restated its promise to investigate fully.

Sgrena's editor at the daily Il Manifesto, Gabriele Polo, said Italian officials told him 300-400 rounds were fired at the car. Italian military officials said two other intelligence agents were wounded in the shooting; U.S. officials said only one other agent was hurt.

Without backing up the claim, Sgrena said she believed it was possible she was targeted because the United States objected to methods used to secure her release.

"The fact that the Americans don't want negotiations to free the hostages is known," the 56-year-old journalist told Sky TG24 television by telephone, her voice hoarse and shaky. "The fact that they do everything to prevent the adoption of this practice to save the lives of people held hostage, everybody knows that. So I don't see why I should rule out that I could have been the target."

Sgrena said she knew nothing about a ransom payment, and no details have emerged about how authorities won her release. An Italian Cabinet minister said money likely changed hands.

U.S. officials object to ransom payments or negotiation with kidnappers, claiming that only encourages further hostage-taking.

The shooting has fueled anti-American sentiment in a country where people have deeply opposed the war in Iraq, but it did not provoke mass protests this weekend like those that have drawn tens of thousands of people into the streets.

At least 10,000 people, however, lined up in the rain to pay their respects to Nicola Calipari, the agent who died trying to shield Sgrena from the American bullets.

Draped in an Italian flag, his casket lay in state at Rome's Vittoriano national monument, which houses the tomb of the unknown soldier. A state funeral was planned for Monday and Calipari has been awarded the gold medal of valor posthumously.

Calipari was struck in the temple by a single round and died instantly, the ANSA news agency reported, quoting doctors who did an autopsy.

White House counselor Dan Bartlett said Sunday the shootings were a "horrific accident," saying President Bush called Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi to offer condolences and promise a full investigation.

Source: Agencies