Italy firm after hostage murder

Italy insisted yesterday that the killing of an Italian journalist in Iraq by Islamist kidnappers would not shake its resolve to keep troops in Iraq.

Enzo Baldoni became the first journalist to die at the hands of hostage-takers in Iraq since the US-led invasion last year. His execution was condemned by politicians across Italy's political spectrum, who vowed not to give in to blackmail.

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi cut short a holiday in Sardinia. He said the killing, by a group calling itself the Islamic Army in Iraq, "cancels out centuries of civilisation and takes us back to the dark ages of barbarism".

The group had given Italy 48 hours to withdraw its 2,700 troops, the third biggest foreign military contingent in Iraq after those of the United States and Britain.

"We have always said that when the government of (Iraqi Interim Prime Minister Iyad) Allawi asks us to leave, we will leave," Foreign Minister Franco Frattini told RAI television news.

He called the killing "a horrendous act, but one that will not dent Italy's commitment to Iraq".

Italians had prayed Mr Baldoni would be spared the fate of Fabrizio Quattrocchi, a civilian security guard killed by his kidnappers in Iraq in April.

Three other Italians captured with Mr Quattrocchi were released, but at least 12 hostages of various nationalities have now been killed by militants trying to force the withdrawal of foreign troops.