China hopes Iraq will regain stability as soon as possible, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said in Beijing Thursday.  

Answering a question about Wednesday's suicide truck bombing at an Italian military base in Iraq, spokesman Liu Jianchao said China is deeply concerned about the succession of bombings and attacks in Iraq which have claimed severe casualties.

China hopes Iraq will regain stability as early as possible so that the reconstruction process can go ahead smoothly, he added.

A suicide truck bomber attacked the headquarters of Italy's paramilitary police in Nasiriya city in southern Iraq on Wednesday, killing 18 Italians, according to an Italian military source.

A spokesman for the US-led coalition said at least eight Iraqis died in the blast.

(Xinhua News Agency November 14, 2003)