Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi called the bombing a "terrorist act" and said it wouldn't deter his nation's resolve to fight terror.


In a separate attack, an American soldier was killed when a roadside bomb exploded near a U.S. patrol by the town of Taji northwest of Baghdad, Maj Josslyn Aberle, spokeswoman of the 4th Infantry Division, said on Wednesday.


The latest death brings to 152 the number of soldiers killed by hostile fire since President Bush declared an end to active combat May 1.


In Nasiriyah, about 180 miles southeast of baghdad, the explosive device went off at about 10:40 a.m. Iraqi time at the Carabinieri's multinational specialist unit in the southern city of Nasiriyah, the Italian paramilitary police said in a statement. The statement said that the explosion occurred in front of the base, near the Iraqi chamber of commerce.


A Carabinieri official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that six Italians were dead.


Another official, Maj. Roberto Riccardi, said the building was in flames, and that some Italians may be under the debris, although details were difficult to come by because communication had been severed.


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