Italy: The Italian Prime Minister, Mr Silvio Berlusconi, vowed yesterday that no amount of "intimidation" would prompt Italy to withdraw its troops from Iraq, writes Paddy Agnew in Rome
Speaking in parliament in the wake of yesterday morning's bomb attack on an Italian military base in the southern Iraqi city of Nassiriya in which at least 25 people, including 17 Italians, lost their lives, the prime minister said: "No amount of intimidation should undermine our willingness to help that country rebuild itself and construct for itself freedom, security and self-government."
In his brief speech to the Senate, the prime minister struck a defiant tone before going on to argue that it was not the moment for polemics regarding his government's decision, taken last April, to send troops to Iraq.
That call fell on deaf ears among hardline sections of the centre-left opposition , however.
The tragic news was greeted yesterday with renewed calls for the withdrawal of Italian military personnel.
The Rifondazione Communista leader, Mr Fausto Bertinotti, said: "Whilst expressing all our respect and solidarity for the families of the victims, we intend to pursue our campaign against the war. As we've already said over recent months, it is necessary to withdraw the troops."
Mr Pietro Folena, a senior figure in the Democratic Left, the largest opposition party, also sounded a bitterly critical note: "Unfortunately these troops were sent to Iraq, in the midst of chaos and without taking on board either the consequences or the risks to which they would be exposed, because of the government's desire to do the Bush administration a favour."
Speaking in parliament, the Defence Minister, Mr Antonio Martino, dismissed any question of an Italian troop withdrawal, adding: "Only if we stay there will the deaths of our soldiers not be in vain."
The defence minister also confirmed that Italian intelligence sources believe yesterday's lorry-bomb attack to be the work of the "Feddayn Saddam", Islamic militants who have remained loyal to the deposed dictator.
As the Italian death toll became known, it seemed that just about every region in the country had suffered a loss, with the victims coming from places as far apart as Alto Adige in the Alps, Naples, Sardinia and Sicily.
The Italian expeditionary force in Iraq, as approved by a parliamentary vote last April 15th, comprises 1,850 soldiers, a 500-strong navy force, 200 air-force personnel, and 400 carabinieri or police.
Most of the Italian dead in Nassiriya were carabinieri, involved in routine police work in an attempt establish law and order in the city.
The tragedy struck a doubly powerful blow at Italian public opinion.
Firstly, the death toll among Italians involved in an international peacekeeping mission was the heaviest since 13 airmen on a UN mission were killed in Kindu, Zaire (Democratic Republic of Congo) in November 1961.
Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, the centre-right government's decision to support the US-led military intervention in Iraq had been taken in the face of widespread public dismay.
More than three million people demonstrated in Rome last February against US-led military intervention
Opinion polls repeatedly claimed that more than 70 per cent of Italians were strongly opposed to the war in Iraq.
When the decision to send troops to post-war Iraq was put to a vote in parliament in April, the centre-left opposition either abstained or voted against.