Tribute to murdered Italian aid worker

(REUTERS)

Palestinians marched in a symbolic funeral procession in memory of an Italian activist killed by al-Qa'ida sympathisers in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.

Vittorio Arrigoni's body, in a coffin draped with a Palestinian flag, was carried from a mortuary to an ambulance for transfer to neighbouring Egypt en route to Italy.

Arrigoni, 36, was found strangled in an abandoned house on Friday. A Salafist group, extreme jihadists aligned with al-Qa'ida, had abducted and threatened to kill him unless their leader, detained by Hamas last month, was freed.

Arrigoni had lived in Gaza since arriving in 2008 on board a humanitarian aid boat that Israel had admitted, despite blockading the territory.

Gaza's interior ministry has posted pictures on its website of three people sought in connection with the killing. Two others are already in custody.