Iraq overshadows US Memorial Day

Bush has been accused of glossing over the rising toll of war dead

President Bush has paid tribute to US soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan in a speech to mark Memorial Day, when America remembers its war dead.

He was speaking at Arlington National Cemetery, where he laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Mr Bush praised the "fierce courage" of the soldiers involved in the US-led "war on terror", who he said had made America safer and freed millions.

Mr Bush has been criticised for not attending any funerals of the war dead.

The BBC's Washington correspondent Ian Pannell says it was Mr Bush's most public acknowledgement so far of US military losses in the "war on terror".

Mr Bush evoked images of duty and sacrifice, God and country - also key themes in his re-election campaign, says our correspondent.

There were parades and commemorations in several countries on the day Americans are encouraged to honour fallen servicemen and women.

Mr Bush's speech in Virginia capped a weekend of tributes to America's war dead.

Memorial Day ceremonies usually focus on America's role in World War II.

'Character'

More than 800 US soldiers have died in Iraq, along with some 120 in Afghanistan, and Mr Bush is facing declining public support for the war in Iraq.

Soldiers at US bases in Iraq remembered the fallen

"The war on terror we're fighting today has brought great costs," Mr Bush said in the cemetery's amphitheatre.

"Since the hour this nation was attacked, we have seen the character of the men and women who wear our country's uniform.

"In places like Kabul and Kandahar and Mosul and Baghdad, we have seen their decency and their brave spirit. Because of their fierce courage, America is safer, two terror regimes are gone forever and more than 50 million souls now live in freedom," he said.

Mr Bush received a standing ovation for his speech - as did his beleaguered Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld.

In Washington DC, war veterans joined high school students, military bands, and motorbike riders on parade in a sequel to Saturday's dedication of a new memorial to those who perished in World War II.

Thousands of bystanders applauded the veterans, some of whom walked and some followed in buses as the parade led up Independence Avenue, to finish near the new memorial.

In Italy, some 180 US veterans who took part in the liberation of Rome - exactly 60 years ago this week - joined a ceremony at Nettuno cemetery south of Rome.

Young lives lost

General Charles Wald, the deputy commander of American forces in Europe, recalled the extreme youth of most of the 10,000 Americans commemorated.

"Most of those we honour today were very young," he said.

"Most were lost before their 20th birthday; they were regular home-town American kids, all of them leading normal, safe lives prior to this war. When their country called, they answered."

President Bush is due to visit Italy in a few days' time.

Italian peace activists are threatening anti-war demonstrations over Iraq.

Our Rome correspondent David Willey says 60 years on, some Italians are asking whether America's armed forces should still be classified as liberators.