Body of Irish soldier flown to air base

THE body of the Irish soldier killed in Iraq with the British Army, Lance Corporal Ian Keith Malone, was flown back along with six other bodies to a British air base yesterday.

The solemn repatriation ceremony at RAF Brize Norton could not have been further removed from the jubilant scenes at the base one day earlier when 210 servicemen and women arrived safely home to be reunited with waiting friends and family.

The return of the seven bodies brought the number of killed servicemen repatriated to 28, leaving two of the 30 British and Irish fatalities still to be brought home.