monsters and critics -- Riga - The presidents of Estonia, Latvia, and Poland expressed condolences on Thursday to the Baltic nation of Lithuania over the death of a Lithuanian soldier in Afghanistan.

'Our hearts will go out to Lithuania,' said Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves. 'We know what it means for our country.'

The 35-year-old Arunas Jarmalavicius became the first Lithuanian soldier to die in the NATO-led mission in Afghanistan, the Baltic nation's defence ministry said on Thursday. The soldier was killed in western Afghanistan when people took to the streets to protest a US soldier in Iraq using the Koran for target practice.