Italians honour Iraq blast dead

Tuesday has been declared a day of mourning in Italy

Thousands of people have queued to pay their respects to the 19 Italians killed in last week's Iraq bomb attack.

The bodies are lying in state in Rome's Victor Emmanuel monument, dedicated to the Unknown Soldier.

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi and the Italian cabinet were among those who attended to pay their respects.

The 19, most of them Italian policemen, died last Wednesday in a suicide bomb attack on their base in Nasiriya.

I felt a really strong desire to be here. They are all my sons Antonella Regnon

An official state funeral for the men will be held on Tuesday, which has been declared a day of mourning in Italy. The Rome service will be broadcast live on Italian television.

Crowds began gathering in Rome from early on Monday to file past the coffins, all draped in the Italian flag.

"I am a mother who has a son in the carabinieri. I felt a really strong desire to be here. They are all my sons," said one woman, Antonella Regnon.

Colleagues of the dead policemen, from the carabinieri force, lined the steps of the monument.

Many people have also left flowers in memory of the dead.

The attack devastated the Italian base

The last body - that of Corporal Pietro Petrucci - was returned to Italy after his parents gave permission for his life support machine to be switched off on Saturday.

His coffin was being brought to the monument to join the others.

The Nasiriya incident was the worst single bomb attack on international peacekeepers in Iraq, and the worst Italian military loss since World War II.

The Italian losses included 12 carabinieri, five army soldiers and two civilians.

More than 80 people were wounded.