Pope leads prayers for kidnapped women

Pope John Paul II led prayers today for the release of two Italian aid workers kidnapped by an armed gang in Iraq, while Premier Silvio Berlusconi urged a united front against terrorism.

Simona Pari and Simona Torretta, 29, were seized from their offices in central Baghdad after an attack by a group of men in olive-green uniforms. Two Iraqis, a man and a woman, were also kidnapped in the raid.

Torretta and Pari worked for an aid agency called Un Ponte Per… (A Bridge To…) and were involved in school and water projects.

Their abduction has caused outrage in Italy. Popular daily Corriere della Sera commented: “They are not in Baghdad by chance, for money or adventure, but to bring concrete aid to an afflicted population,”.

The kidnapping deals “a low blow to Italy in order to force it to leave the country. It is a slap in the face of the system of unarmed humanitarian aid”, said another Italian daily, the Rome-based Il Messaggero.

The kidnapping was condemned by all politicians, and the two blocs vowed to unite against terrorism.

“We are ready to cooperate with the government and the institutions to save these two brave women,” said opposition leader Francesco Rutelli.

Berlusconi met opposition leaders today, urging them to stand with the government despite their opposition to the US-led war. His government was sharply criticised for not doing enough to secure the release of freelance journalist Enzo Baldoni, who was executed by kidnappers in Iraq last month.

The premier’s office said in a statement that the government is “convinced that terrorism must be confronted with the unity of the country.”

Un Ponte Per… was critical of Berlusconi’s support of the US-led invasion in Iraq, and the two women were described in news reports as pacifists. Italy has 3,500 troops in Iraq, which were sent in after the ousting of Saddam Hussein.

Appeals for the release of the two women poured in, including one by the Iraqi Community in Italy and one by the Union of Islamic Communities and Organisations in Italy. The Foreign Ministry obtained a condemnation of the kidnapping by Sunni and Shiite authorities in Baghdad, the government said.

Out-going EU Commission President Romano Prodi called the kidnappings “a direct assault on universal humanitarian values.”

“I am shocked and horrified,” he said. “There is not, and can never be a justification for such inhuman acts.”