Italian base
in Iraq devastated
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3263087.stm
At least 22 people are reported to have been killed in a bomb
attack on an Italian base in the southern Iraqi city of
Nasiriya.
Italian military spokesmen say 11 of the dead were paramilitary
police officers and three were soldiers.
Local hospital officials quoted by Reuters news agency say eight
Iraqis were also killed.
These are the first deaths to hostile action among the 2,400-strong
Italian force in Iraq.
The powerful explosion - said to have been detonated by a suicide
truck bomber - tore the front off the building.
Eyewitnesses said the bomber rammed his vehicle through the gate of
the Italian compound and detonated his bomb in front of the
Carabinieri building, setting it on fire and trapping people under
rubble.
Vehicles parked outside the building exploded in flames, and
secondary explosions from ammunition stored on the compound rocked
the area moments after the main blast.
Italian paramilitary police - known as Carabinieri - are part of a
post-war deployment of about 2,400 Italian troops in Iraq.
They serve under British command in southern Iraq as part of the
US-led coalition.
'Vile attack'
The BBC's David Willey, in Rome, says there is deep dismay in
Italy.
President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi has appeared on national television
to express his condolences to the families of the dead and
parliament has been adjourned as a sign of national mourning.
Mr Ciampi called the bombing a "terrorist act" and said the
officers were killed "in carrying out their duty to help the people
of Iraq recover peace, order and security".
"Our carabinieri, our armed forces are in Iraq by a mandate and the
will of parliament," he said. "All of Italy is behind them and
supports them in this bitter trial."
The Pope condemned the bombing, describing it as a "vile attack"
against a misssion of peace.
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said the attack would not derail
Italy's commitment to helping Iraq, but the Italian opposition has
demanded the withdrawal of the country's troops from Iraq.
"They were sent to an Iraq in flames because the government wanted
to do a favour for the Bush administration without taking risks
into consideration," said Pietro Folena of the main opposition
party, the Democrats of the Left.
"Now the Italian soldiers must come home. It is the only right
thing to do at this moment."
Members of other opposition parties made similar demands.
US soldier killed
Vehicle bombs have been used in attacks on numerous organisations
in Iraq since the war ended, including the United Nations and the
International Red Cross.
Nasiriya, a Shia Muslim city that saw heavy fighting during the
war, had been relatively quite in recent months.
However, the BBC's Peter Biles says the bombing of a minibus in
Basra on Tuesday and the killing of a Polish soldier near Karbala
last week point to a possible upsurge of attacks in southern
Iraq.
Elsewhere in Iraq, the US military says another of its soldiers has
been killed in an explosion north of Baghdad.
He died when a bomb exploded under his vehicle during a patrol on
Tuesday night.
More than 150 US troops have been killed in attacks by unknown
groups since major combat operations in Iraq ended.