Italy, the last major western European ally of the US and Britain in Iraq, ended its mission yesterday, handing the province which has been under its control to Iraqi troops.
Meanwhile, 38 bodies were found dumped in the streets of Baghdad, a toll which has become almost routine in the capital during recent weeks as death squads roam its streets, dragging victims out of homes and shops, then torturing and killing them.
A UN report released yesterday stated that Iraq was now deadlier than ever: 6,599 Iraqis were believed to have died violently in the past two months - 700 more than in the previous two.
"Bodies found at the Medico-Legal Institute often bear signs of severe torture, including acid-induced injuries and burns caused by chemical substances, missing skin, broken bones, missing eyes, missing teeth and wounds caused by power- drills or nails," the report said.
One Italian soldier died in a road accident during a patrol just hours before the handover of Dhi Qar province, bringing a bitter end to a mission which has been deeply unpopular in Italy. "A day which we had thought of as a day of joy has instead been marked by the shadow of mourning," Italian defence minister Arturo Parisi said at the handover ceremony in the provincial capital, Nassiriya.
At one point during its mission in Iraq Italy lost 32 members of its forces, including 19 caribinieri police, in a single suicide-bomb attack.
Yesterday, gunmen killed six police officers in Baghdad and three more died in Baquba. Rockets fell on a Baghdad house, killing five people, and at least three bombs in the capital killed seven others. The US military reported two soldiers killed.