Bomb Found at Greek Embassy in Rome

From the Daily Mail:

"A package bomb has been found at the Greek Embassy in Rome, three days after mail bombs exploded at two other embassies injuring two people.

"Greek Foreign Ministry spokesman Gregoris Delavekouras said from Athens that no one was harmed in the latest incident, in part because heightened security measures had already been put in place.

"'The embassy was evacuated and the staff assembled some distance away from the building, so that everyone could be accounted for,' he told media.

"Mail bombs exploded Friday at the Chilean and Swiss embassies, injuring two people who opened them. An anarchist group with reported ties to Greek anarchists claimed responsibility.

[...]

"An Italian group calling itself the Informal Anarchist Federation claimed responsibility for Friday's blasts.

"News reports said that a claim found at one of the embassies cited the name of Lambros Fountas, a Greek anarchist who was killed in a shootout with police in March.

"Interior Minister Roberto Maroni has said that investigators believe the anarchists who were responsible might have ties to Greek anarchists responsible for last month's letter bombings at Athens embassies.

"On Nov. 2, suspected Greek anarchists sent 14 mail bombs to foreign embassies in Athens, as well as to Berlusconi, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Two of the devices exploded, causing no injuries."

Bad stuff right now. It'll get worse as many European governments are forced to cut services and pensions, and raise taxes and fees.

Bombs Explode at Embassies in Rome

More chaos in Italy...

From The Wall Street Journal article by Nathania Zevi and Liam Moloney (via Drudge):

"Parcel bombs exploded at the Swiss and Chilean Embassies in Italy's capital on Thursday, injuring two people and raising concerns of possible terrorist attacks in the country's shopper-packed streets ahead of the Christmas holidays.

"The police are investigating whether violent anarchist groups are behind the bombings, said Italian Interior Minister Roberto Maroni, following similar attacks in Greece last month.

"'Various elements lead us to believe that this is the correct path,' he was quoted as saying by the ANSA news agency, according to the Associated Press. 'These are very violent groups that are also present in Spain and Greece and are very well connected.'

"A spokesman for Italy's police department said law-enforcement officers were carrying out inspections at other embassies in Rome. There was a false alarm at the Ukrainian Embassy.

"The attacks highlight concerns that the threat of terrorist attacks in Europe is escalating. On Tuesday, British police arrested 12 men in a counterterrorism operation. Earlier this month, a suicide bomber blew himself up in Stockholm near streets frequented by Christmas shoppers, the first serious attempt by Islamic extremists targeting civilians in Sweden.

[...]

"The Rome prosecutor's office has launched a probe into the bombs, said a person close to the investigators.

"The bombs follow other unrest in Italy. On Wednesday, students protesting a bill aimed at overhauling the Italian university system filled the country's main streets, and scuffles broke out in the southern city of Palermo, in Sicily. Last week, a similar protest turned violent in Rome.

"On Tuesday, a fake bomb was found on an empty train carriage in Rome's subway, in what police said might also have been an effort to protest the university bill.

"'I don't think these have the same source as the one found on the Rome metro,' Gianni Alemanno, Rome's mayor, told reporters after speaking to the Swiss ambassador."

It is likely that violence will continue as the various European governments deal with their financial shortfalls by raising fees and taxes (although cheating on taxes is very common in Italy), and cutting back their government programs. It's sort of like super-violent lobbying. The real question is to what extent the violence will escalate.

I'm also curious as to why a bomb was sent to the Chilean embassy...

UPDATE: Anarchists of claimed responsibility for the embassy bombs.

From the AGI:

"'We have decided to raise our voice again, with actions too; we'll destroy the system. Up with FAI, up with anarchy'. The parcel bomb sent to the Chilean embassy in Rome was claimed by the FAI anarchist group, according to the Police. The note with the message was contained in a small box, found near the clothes of the employee who opened the explosive parcel. FAI stands for Federazione Anarchica Informale, already familiar to the investigators. . ."

Unrest in Itlay, Riots in the Streets of Rome

Confidence in the government seems to be waning...

From the AFP:

"Italians voiced shock on Wednesday after violent protests set off by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's narrow victory in a vote in parliament that leaves his government hanging by a thread.

"Berlusconi survived a no-confidence vote in the lower house by just three votes, following the rebellion of speaker of parliament Gianfranco Fini who left the ruling coalition with his allies earlier this year.

"The victory ignited running street battles between hundreds of anti-Berlusconi protesters and riot police in which more than 100 people were injured in the tourist-heavy centre of the Italian capital.

"'What happened yesterday was not an expression of freedom. It was an attack by organised groups of hooligans,' Berlusconi said on a news show on Wednesday.

"Protesters set cars alight, hurled cobblestones and beat officers with metal bars. Police retaliated by firing tear gas and striking protesters.

"A total of 26 protesters have been charged, police said on Wednesday.

"One officer dragged to the ground was seen by an AFP photographer with his gun in hand, though he later said the weapon had dropped out of his holster and he had grabbed it to prevent it falling into the hands of protesters.

"'Rome was defiled like it hadn't been since 1977 during the terrible Years of Lead,' when Italy was rocked by violent political militancy including bombings, shootings and kidnappings, said the Corriere della Sera daily.

"Rome's mayor Gianni Alemanno said the clashes were 'shocking' and likened them to the 'gratuitous violence that was on the streets of Rome in the 1970s and that I hoped never to see again.'

"Alemanno estimated the damage at 20 million euros (27 million dollars)."

I know little about Italian politics, but I doubt that Italy is in for more Years of Lead. I do think the stability of the last few years will be gone for quite some time. Like a lot of the world in these uncertain times, Italy will be a place to keep an eye on in the near future.

Violence Erupts in Naples, Italy Over Trash Problems

From the Reuters article by Silvia Aloisi:

"At least 20 police officers were injured on Thursday and there was further violence overnight as the chronic problem of waste disposal in Italy's third largest city flared into violence for another night.

"Hundreds of tonnes of garbage lie uncollected in the streets after a dispute erupted over a new dump near the town of Terzigno, near Naples, where the existing facility is full and where residents complain about the stench and toxic waste.

[...]

"Overnight, police confronted around 2,000 demonstrators, who threw stones, marbles and firecrackers and used tree trunks to block access to a dump near Terzigno, located in a national park at the foot of Mount Vesuvius.

"Headlines on Friday were dominated by the violence, which media reports compared to a 'guerrilla war.'

"But the clashes were only the latest episode in a crisis that has persisted for years and which in 2008 prompted the then newly elected Berlusconi to declare a national disaster.

"Organised crime interests have been deeply entwined with rubbish collection in Naples for many years. But the problem has been aggravated by inefficiency, political opportunism and unscrupulous business operators.

[...]

"Local authorities say a dispute with a waste contractor has aggravated recent problems and individual local authorities have refused to take waste overflows from neighbouring areas, heightening the sense of frustration.

"The anger of Terzigno residents has been compounded by repeated changes of policy, with plans for a new dump announced, cancelled and then re-confirmed on different occasions, while concerns over health have grown."

Don't worry though. Brussels will save the day.

"In Brussels, a spokesman for the European Commission, which has taken legal action to force Italy to solve the crisis, said it was studying the response it had received from Rome.

"'The infringement procedures are ongoing,' spokesman Joe Hennon told journalists. 'Italian authorities need to draw up a plan to manage rubbish in the region.'"

Thank you, Dr. Obvious... er uh, Joe Hennon.