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发帖数: 29846 | 1 ROME – Package bombs exploded at the Swiss and Chilean embassies in Rome on
Thursday, wounding the two people who opened them, in attacks that bore
similarities to bombings by anarchists in Greece last month.
One of the wounded is at risk of losing an eye, a hospital official said. No
group claimed responsibility, but Italian Interior Minister Roberto Maroni
said anarchists were thought to be behind the blasts in Rome as well.
"Various elements lead us to believe that this is the correct path," he was
quoted as saying by the ANSA news agency. "These are very violent groups
that are also present in Spain and Greece and are very well connected."
On Nov. 2, suspected Greek radical anarchists sent 14 mail bombs to foreign
embassies in Athens, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, German Chancellor
Angela Merkel and Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi. Two of the devices
exploded, causing no injuries.
A group called Conspiracy Nuclei of Fire claimed responsibility for the
Greek blasts. It called on militants in Greece and other countries to step
up their action, and Greek police noted Thursday that in the past, acts of
"solidarity" have been carried out between Greek and Italian militant
groups.
At the time of the Greek attacks, details on how the devices were made were
passed to the Italian and other EU police forces and Europol, a police
official told The Associated Press in Athens.
While there may be an emotional link between Greek and Italian militant
groups, Greece says it is unlikely that militants from the country were
showing the Italians what to do.
All embassies in Rome were informed of the blasts and Italian diplomats
abroad were urged to take precautions.
The first bomb exploded inside the Swiss Embassy at around noon (1100 GMT, 6
a.m. EST). The man who opened it was hospitalized with serious hand
injuries, but his life was not in danger, Swiss ambassador Bernardino
Regazzoni said.
He recalled that the Swiss Embassy in Athens had been a target of the
November letter bomb campaign and that a device had been found outside the
grounds of the Rome Embassy in early October.
At the time, he noted, some had speculated that an anarchist-ecological
group might have been responsible.
About three hours after the Swiss Embassy blast, a small parcel bomb
exploded inside the mailroom of the Chilean Embassy, slightly wounding an
administrative official Cesar Mella, Chilean Foreign Minister Alfredo Moreno
said in Santiago. The official went on his own to the hospital for
treatment.
Both victims had wounds to their hands and were in stable condition, but
Mella risks losing his right eye because of lesions on his cornea from the
blast, said Massimiliano Talucci, a spokesman at Rome's Umberto I hospital.
Chilean Ambassador Oscar Godoy said the parcel — smaller than a package but
bigger than a letter — had been addressed to the Chilean cultural attache.
He called it "an unexplainable act of terrorism, irrational and brutal."
Rome police chief Francesco Tagliente said a suspicious package that drew
police to the Ukrainian Embassy was a false alarm.
The Swiss Embassy increased security after consulting with Italian
authorities and that security at all foreign missions would be reviewed,
Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey said. Possible extra measures,
she added, could include additional protective walls or fences, surveillance
cameras and evacuation plans.
There have been growing concerns in Europe about holiday season attacks
following a suicide bombing in Sweden and security services' fears of an
assault on a European city modeled on the deadly shooting spree in Mumbai,
India.
On Tuesday, there was a bomb scare in Rome's subway system after authorities
discovered a suspicious package with wires and powder under a seat. The
device ended up being a fake, with police determining there was no trigger
mechanism and its the powder was inert, cement-like material. |
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