Italy: Hands outstretched, palms upturned, the line of Somali women offered up Islamic prayer as they stood over the 13 coffins of their compatriots. With the strains of Mozart's Requiem blasting out over Michelangelo's Campidoglia (city hall) square in central Rome, the women observed a dignified, quiet mourning.
No screaming, no howling marked this ceremony, held to pay tribute to the 13 dead Somalis found in a 40-foot wooden boat off the coast of the Sicilian island of Lampedusa last Sunday. Fifteen survivors were rescued from the boat, which had set out from Libya more than two weeks earlier but which soon ran out of fuel, food and water, causing the death not only of the 13 buried yesterday in Rome, but also of perhaps another 15, thrown overboard during the crossing of the Mediterranean.
It was the wish of Rome's mayor, Walter Veltroni, that Rome and Romans pay homage to the latest victims of this savage trade in "boat people" (up to $1,200 the price of a "ticket" on these latter-day coffin ships).
Yet, in response to the mayor's call, only about 300 turned up to mourn these victims of a flourishing illegal "commerce" that ever more regularly sees the dreams and ambitions of the would-be African or Asian immigrant end in tragedy off Italy's Sicilian and Adriatic coasts.
As somewhat bemused tourists made their way round the square, the gathering of political dignitaries, including Interior Minister Giuseppe Pisanu, and representatives of the Somali community in Italy lined up in front of the 13 coffins, all draped in the Somali flag.
Giovanni Conso, president of Italy's Council for Refugees, said that such are Italy's historical (colonial) links with Somalia that "this square is a square that belongs to Somalia and the Somalis", adding: "This is a story of pain and suffering. A story about the frightening egotism of the affluent West. We're all co-responsible (for these deaths). We didn't do enough, we didn't raise our voices enough."
Mayor Veltroni said that the victims had paid with their lives simply for "the right to a free and dignified life". Speaking on behalf of the Somali community, diplomat Abscir Osman, from the Somali Embassy to Italy, thanked Italy and Italians for the solidarity shown to his compatriots over the last few days.
Not everyone among the Somali community present at the Campidoglia yesterday was convinced that the ceremony was anything more than just a handsome gesture. Ms Zeinab Ahmed, head of an association which helps Somali immigrants to Italy, was grateful for yesterday's show of solidarity but wondered about the future for her compatriots.
Like many of the Somalis at Rome city hall yesterday, she argued that until Somalia, which has been wracked by war for most of the last 13 years, finds a lasting peace, then desperation and hunger will force more waves of "boat people" out on the illegal immigrant trail.
"I only hope that tragedies like this will prompt the international community to take some serious action on Somalia. If we had peace in Somalia, then many problems would be resolved. But I don't know. If what is happening today in Somalia were to happen in Francophone Africa, or in ex-English colonial Africa, I think the international community would have reacted by now."
All of the Somalis present, however, did seem genuinely grateful for the brief ceremony. Antar, a Somali who has lived and worked in Italy for the last 16 years, said he was glad he had come: "This could be a start. If people in power continue like this, then good. But that's for tomorrow. Today I came to pay homage and to pray for these poor people".