ITALY-IRAQ-DEFENCE-DI PAOLA

Italian Admiral Giampaolo Di Paola chief of general staff of Italian Defense poses in his headquarter in Rome on 13 May 2004. "All Italians should be proud of what our soldiers are doing in Iraq, which continues to be a peace mission," Di Paola told the media at Rome airport yesterday 17 May 2004, where he was awaiting the return of Italian soldiers wounded in the weekend fighting in Nasiriyah. Italy,one of the staunchest US allies in the war on Iraq, has the third large military contingent in the coalition behind the United States and Britain. AFP PHOTO/Vincenzo PINTO (Photo by VINCENZO PINTO / AFP) (Photo by VINCENZO PINTO/AFP via Getty Images)