Moran's wife Ivana told the 450 mourners that her husband would be remembered for the happiness he had brought to others.

"He is my angel guardian," she told those gathered for the memorial service. "Recently he became an angel to my daughter."

Moran, 39, was killed by a suicide bomber as he covered US air raids against a base in northern Iraq of an Islamic militant group with alleged ties to Osama bin Laden.

The bombing was apparently carried out by a member of the group in retaliation for the US strikes. Moran was working for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

He is the only Australian killed in the war on Iraq, where some 2,000 Australian soldiers are engaged alongside more than 300,000 US and British troops. Two British reporters have also died and two are missing.

Among the mourners at Wednesday's mass for Moran were South Australian Premier Mike Rann and ABC journalist Eric Campbell, who was working with Moran and was injured in the bombing.

WAR.WIRE