Persons wishing to express sympathy to the family of 1st Lt. Olafs Baumanis, the first Latvian soldier killed in the Iraq war, may now do so online, the Latvian Ministry of Defence has announced.

The 34-year-old Baumanis, second-in-command of the Latvian demining unit deployed in Iraq, was killed June 8 during a mortar attack on a munitions dump near Suwariyah, a city southeast of Baghdad. Baumanis was one of six Coalition soldiers killed in the attack.

Military officials initially described the event as an accident, but on June 9 the Ministry of Defence said the soldiers died during a mortar attack that came as they were preparing unexploded munitions for destruction. In addition to Baumanis, three Slovakian and two Polish soldiers died in the attack.

Messages of sympathy may be posted on the Ministry of Defence’s Web site in the “Sarunas” section, which is found at www.mod.gov.lv.

Rīga-based airBaltic in August will begin direct flights from the Latvian capital to the industrial city of Manchester in the United Kingdom, the airline announced June 9.

Flights will commence Aug. 16 three times a week, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, the airline said in a press release. The cost of a one-way ticket will be LVL 49 plus airport taxes.

Passengers will travel on a 120-seat Boeing 737. The flight will take about three hours.

The new route will be the second airBaltic flight to the United Kingdom and the 21st overall.

Founded in 1995, airBaltic is owned mainly by the the Latvian government and the Swedish airline SAS.

Latvian President Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga, already visiting Canada and the United States, is expected to be among world leaders and dignitaries attending the state funeral of former U.S. President Ronald Reagan on June 11, the Latvian president’s press office has announced.

Reagan died June 5 at the age of 93. He was the 40th president of the United States.

In a letter to President George Bush, Vīķe-Freiberga said Latvia will always remember Reagan as a courageous fighter for freedom and justice. “We remember his unique role in ending the Cold War,” she wrote, “and in liquidating the Iron Curtain, which brought about the fall of the Berlin wall and the collapse of the Soviet empire.”

In Rīga, a book of condolences was opened June 7 at the U.S. Embassy and will be available for signing through June 11, according to the embassy’s Web site. The consular section of the embassy will be closed June 11 in observance of the national day of mourning in the United States.