State funeral for Italian bomb victims

A state funeral for 18 Italians killed in a suicide bombing in Iraq will be held on Tuesday in a Rome basilica, officials said.

At the same time, schools across the country will observe a minute’s silence, shops will close briefly and workers will pause for 10 minutes.

The Colosseum, usually bathed in light at night, will remain dark that evening in a tribute to the dead, city officials decided.

President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, who is in the United States, has decided to cut short his trip and come back earlier to attend the service.

Tuesday has been declared a day of national mourning by Premier Silvio Berlusconi’s government. But the mourning began shortly after Wednesday’s attack in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah, which left 12 paramilitary Carabinieri, four army soldiers and two civilians dead.

Another Italian wounded in the attack has been declared brain dead.

It was not immediately clear when the bodies would return home. News reports said they would probably come back tomorrow, but there was no official word.

About 20 Italians wounded in the attack were also on their way home, but a Carabinieri official in Rome declined to give details.

Italy has a 2,300-strong contingent in Iraq, which includes Carabinieri paramilitary police, soldiers and civilian personnel such as doctors and other humanitarian workers.

Immediately after Wednesday’s attack, Berlusconi pledged that Italy would not be budged from its mission.