Just last month Islamist guerrillas kidnapped and murdered the Italian journalist Enzo Baldoni in Iraq, while security guard Fabrizio Quattrocchi met a similar fate in April

Just last month Islamist guerrillas kidnapped and murdered the Italian journalist Enzo Baldoni in Iraq, while security guard Fabrizio Quattrocchi met a similar fate in April. So the news that the "two Simonas" have been kidnapped has touched a raw nerve among the Italian public. In Rimini on Italy's Adriatic coast, Simona Pari's parents can only watch and wait. "I spoke to Simona on Monday evening," says her father, "and she was okay. She knew that she was there to help people, especially children." Last year Rome, Simona Torretta's home city, witnessed major anti-war protests. Now people have expressed their disbelief. "It's becoming a conflict between civilisations. It's real barbarity," says one woman. Another said: "It's very sad, what the war is leading to. There's a lot of sadness." Demonstrators have gathered outside government headquarters, demanding everything possible be done to free the two women.