Nigeria deaths: Italian anger at UK over rescue bid

Italian politicians have complained that David Cameron did not consult Italy before approving a failed bid to rescue a Briton and Italian in Nigeria.

Chris McManus and Franco Lamolinara, who were abducted last year, died as the rescue bid failed on Thursday.

The UK prime minister said he gave the go-ahead because the men's lives were in "imminent and growing danger".

British SBS special forces were "first in" during the rescue bid at Sokoto, says BBC correspondent Gordon Corera.

Gunmen seized the two engineers in the town of Birnin Kebbi on 12 May 2011.

They worked for B Stabilini, an Italian construction firm, and were involved in the construction of a local headquarters for the Central Bank of Nigeria.

"A Downing Street spokesperson said that the UK had been in regular contact with the Italian authorities throughout the case," BBC correspondent Gordon Corera reported.

"The spokesperson said Rome was informed when the operation was under way and that the British Prime Minister rang spoke to his Italian counterpart after its conclusion."

But speaking on the BBC's Newsnight, Italian Senator Lucio Malan said the Italians were not satisfied and wanted to know why they had not been consulted.

"It is quite uncommon that a country that is involved is not informed before. 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," he said.

Meanwhile, BBC correspondent Alan Johnston said one MP from the centre-left Democratic Party was now demanding to know why Italy was not involved in the decision to go ahead with the operation.

President Jonathan said that the men's captors had been seized and "would be made to face the full wrath of the law".

He described them as being from Boko Haram, a militant Islamist group that has carried out a number of attacks on police, politicians and clerics who oppose it.

The BBC's Gordon Corera said he understood the attack was most likely to have been the work of a splinter cell within Boko Haram, with possible links to al-Qaeda.

"During this ordeal we have relied heavily on the support of our family and friends which has never waned and has enabled us to get through the most difficult of times," they said.Relatives of Mr McManus, who reports say was from Oldham in Greater Manchester, released a statement saying they were "devastated" by his death but thanked those who had worked to try to free him.