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Memorial Service for 19 Italians Killed in Iraq
Aired November 18, 2003 - 11:21 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: A memorial service for the 19 Italians killed in a suicide attack in Nasiriyah, Iraq.
Let's bring in our Baghdad bureau Jane Arraf with more on that.
Jane, hello.
JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Daryn.
It was a small Italian community that gathered here in Baghdad St. Paul's cathedral, which is a -- sorry, St. Joseph's Cathedral, Roman Catholic Church, to celebrate the lives and mourn the deaths of these 19 Italians.
Now, a long way from home, but only about 200 miles south, from when they were and where they were killed in Nasiriyah when that tanker exploded outside Italian paramilitary police headquarters.
Now the congregation included the chief U.S. civil administrator L. Paul Bremer, who joined the rest of the congregates in taking communion toward the end of the mass. It was officiated by the papal nuncio (ph), the pope's representative, who said that they had come to do humanitarian work. These people whom the Italians like to say came more for peace than war. And that the end of it, the special Italian envoy Antonio Armaliti (ph) said that despite the tragedy of the attack, it would not deter Italian forces here in this country.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's the greatest single loss our troops have endured since the end of the Second World War. So obviously the country has been in mourning, and we have been are in mourning here today as well in our memorials. It's meant to heighten our conscious and memory of what happened. But I don't think that this will lead us to anything else but continuing our job.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ARRAF: It is however a huge shock, not only to Italians, but other nationalities. The Italians more than anyone else believed they were safer in the south, traditionally a safer place. They believed that they wouldn't be a target because they weren't American. This has proved certainly that almost anyone can be a target -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Absolutely. Jane Arraf in Baghdad, thank you for that.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired November 18, 2003 - 11:21 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: A memorial service for the 19 Italians killed in a suicide attack in Nasiriyah, Iraq.
Let's bring in our Baghdad bureau Jane Arraf with more on that.
Jane, hello.
JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Daryn.
It was a small Italian community that gathered here in Baghdad St. Paul's cathedral, which is a -- sorry, St. Joseph's Cathedral, Roman Catholic Church, to celebrate the lives and mourn the deaths of these 19 Italians.
Now, a long way from home, but only about 200 miles south, from when they were and where they were killed in Nasiriyah when that tanker exploded outside Italian paramilitary police headquarters.
Now the congregation included the chief U.S. civil administrator L. Paul Bremer, who joined the rest of the congregates in taking communion toward the end of the mass. It was officiated by the papal nuncio (ph), the pope's representative, who said that they had come to do humanitarian work. These people whom the Italians like to say came more for peace than war. And that the end of it, the special Italian envoy Antonio Armaliti (ph) said that despite the tragedy of the attack, it would not deter Italian forces here in this country.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's the greatest single loss our troops have endured since the end of the Second World War. So obviously the country has been in mourning, and we have been are in mourning here today as well in our memorials. It's meant to heighten our conscious and memory of what happened. But I don't think that this will lead us to anything else but continuing our job.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ARRAF: It is however a huge shock, not only to Italians, but other nationalities. The Italians more than anyone else believed they were safer in the south, traditionally a safer place. They believed that they wouldn't be a target because they weren't American. This has proved certainly that almost anyone can be a target -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Absolutely. Jane Arraf in Baghdad, thank you for that.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
