Coma woman's death riles many Italians

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said Eluana Englaro, who died in the middle of a debate about her right to die after 17 years in coma, had been killed and the head of state was among those responsible.

"Eluana did not die a natural death, she was killed," the conservative premier told Libero newspaper, blaming Italy's leftist President Giorgio Napolitano for rejecting an emergency decree that would have forced doctors to resume feeding her.

"Napolitano made a serious mistake," another paper quoted Berlusconi as saying. The premier lamented that the bill he then sent to parliament to stop Eluana's nutrition from being suspended "did not make it in time".