"The dirty war in Iraq killed another Italian soldier, a 23-year-old, while Berlusconi was celebrating the scudetto (the Italian championship title) won by AC Milan," said Oliviero Diliberto, national secretary of the Communist Party.

Diliberto's comments followed an announcement that an Italian soldier who was injured in Iraq on Sunday had died during the night.

Matteo Vanzan, a 23-year-old corporal, died after being injured in fighting with Shiite Muslim militiamen in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah, a development that increased pressure on the Berlusconi government to withdraw Italy's 3,000-strong contingent.

Vanzan's mother urged the government in a television interview to "bring the others home".

"It's not fair to leave them there to die," she added.

But Berlusconi insisted on Monday that Italy's military presence in Iraq remained essential despite Vazan's death.

In a message of sympathy to Vanzan's family, Berlusconi said the soldier had "died defending the values of freedom and democracy for which Italian contingents are engaged in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kosovo and Bosnia".

Berlusconi explained his absence from Rome and his lack of immediate comment saying: "I was attending a gala dinner that I could not avoid but my heart was divided."

He said he had checked by telephone throughout the night on the condition of the soldier who subsequently died.

But the Italian opposition and media unfavourably compared Berlusconi's attitude on Sunday with that of President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, who had remained in the capital.

La Repubblica noted that Berlusconi had reacted to news that several soldiers had been injured in fighting with Iraqi Shiite militia forces in southern Iraq several hours after Ciampi had spoken out on the issue.

"The fact that the prime minister was celebrating his team's victory during a time of anguish for many Italians is proof of the divide that exists between the Italian people and the government," said Marina Sereni, of the main opposition Democrats of the Left party.

Marco Follini, national secretary of the United Christian Democrats, one of the parties in the coalition government, also lamented Berlusconi's absence.

"On a day like that I would have avoided staying on at a party for my team," he said.

But Fabrizio Cicchito, a member of Berlusconi's Forza Italia party, dismissed the criticism.

"Such speculation by a few irresponsible opposition members against the premier, who was kept informed of the dramatic situation in Nasiriyah, is odious," Cicchito said.

The opposition leader in the lower house of the Italian parliament, Luciano Violante, demanded that Berlusconi appear before lawmakers ahead of his trip to Washington on Tuesday for talks on Iraq with UN secretary general Kofi Annan and US President George W. Bush.

A spokesman for the upper house said Berlusconi would address parliament on Thursday after he returned from the United States.

Vanzan's body was to be repatriated on Tuesday, the head of the army general staff said on Monday.

"All Italians should be proud of what our soldiers are doing in Iraq, which continues to be a peace mission," Admiral Giampaolo Di Paola told the media at Rome airport, where he was awaiting the return of Italian soldiers wounded in the weekend fighting in Nasiriyah.

Last week, Berlusconi's right-wing government, one of the staunchest US allies in the war on Iraq, was sucked into the international furore over the abuse of Iraqi detainees.

A senior Italian police officer said in an interview published on May 12 that Italian troops had witnessed evidence that Iraqi police tortured inmates at a prison in the southern city of Nasiriyah.

Fighting in Nasiriyah, which has been raging for a month, worsened at the weekend.

The Italian defence ministry on Monday quoted Nasiriyah hospital officials as saying five Italian soldiers had been wounded in the latest fighting. Sixteen Iraqis had been killed and 14 wounded in the clashes, it said.

Italy has the third large miltiary contingent in the coalition behind the United States and Britain and has suffered casualties in Iraq before.

It lost 17 soldiers and two civilians in a massive bomb attack on the Italian military base in Nasiriyah on November 12, 2003.

And an Italian security guard kidnapped in Iraq on April 12 was killed two days later. Three of his colleagues are still being held captive.

WAR.WIRE