ITALY: Was he a true blue, modern day Italian hero or a cynical mercenary who went to Iraq for the pay? More than a month after 36-year-old Italian hostage Fabrizio Quattrocchi was killed in Iraq by the militant Islamic group, "Green Falange", Italy is divided over just what form of tribute, if any, should be paid to the former baker, night club bouncer and private security guard.
Mr Quattrocchi's remains were flown back to Italy on Tuesday, after they had been left, wrapped up in a sheet, outside the Italian Red Cross hospital in Baghdad last weekend.
The return of his body signalled a significant breakthrough in a difficult and secretive month-long negotiation between Italian authorities, the Red Cross and "Green Falange", aimed above all at obtaining the release of the three other Italian hostages still held by the militant group, namely Mr Umberto Cupertino, Mr Maurizio Agliana and Mr Salvatore Stefio.
Mr Quattrocchi's violent death, recorded on a video tape subsequently sent to Arab TV Al Jazeera but never broadcast in Italy, stirred deep emotions in Italy. Not only was there outrage at the cynical manner in which he was killed, shot in the back of the head at close range, but also there was widespread admiration for the courageous manner in which he faced his death.
Speaking on the day after his death, the Italian Foreign Minister, Mr Franco Frattini told reporters that Mr Quattrocchi had died "like a hero", telling his captors to pull off the hood on his head and shouting, "now I'll show you how an Italian dies".
Mr Quattrocchi's courageous defiance has prompted calls for a state funeral from senior figures in the centre-right government coalition, including Deputy Prime Minister Mr Gianfranco Fini of Alleanza Nazionale and Defence Minister Mr Antonio Martino of Forza Italia.
Opposition figures, however, have dismissed such calls as inopportune, accusing the government, in the words of Green Deputy Mr Paolo Cento, of "cynical manipulation" for "electoral purposes". Furthermore, claim the opposition, it is still unclear as to just what was the nature of his work as a security guard in Baghdad.
In the last 48 hours, too, a further problem has emerged. Italian Red Cross commissioner, Mr Maurizio Scelli, has suggested that a state funeral could jeopardise the lives of the three hostages still held in Iraq.
For the time being, the Quattrocchi family have expressed no specific desire about the funeral arrangements while on Tuesday they blocked the intended transfer of the remains from Rome to their home town of Genoa, requesting that a medical expert confirm the remains are indeed those of Quattrocchi.