In office (and as foreign minister before that) Mr Aso has also eschewed visiting Yasukuni, where war criminals as well as Japan's 2.5m war dead are enshrined.

ECONOMIST: Japan and its history

What is certain is that the response has already far exceeded that following other humanitarian crises including some in which the loss of life has exceeded the 150, 000 now thought to have been killed, such as Congo's war (perhaps 3m dead), or matched it, such as Bangladesh's cyclone in 1991 (140, 000 dead).

ECONOMIST: Asia's tsunami

Mr Sarkozy said there would be a national day of remembrance for France's war dead in the coming days as he marked Mr Ponticelli's death.

BBC: NEWS | Europe | France's final WWI veteran dies

There was warm applause from the crowd as the parade marched past the war memorial, inscribed to The Glorious Dead.

BBC: Remembrance Sunday: UK's wartime fallen commemorated

And so religious volunteers, like al-Sudani, who regard a respectful burial of these victims of war as a crucial calling, have come forth to give the dead a proper resting place.

CNN: Volunteers collect Baghdad's nameless dead

Just as he refused to attend the official memorial service for the war's dead in July, so Sunday, Olmert was too busy to attend the ceremony.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Of men and mice