Anarchist bombers cast shadow of terror over EU

telegragh ^ | 12/31/03 | Robin Gedye

[mylife]

Anarchist bombers cast shadow of terror over EU By Robin Gedye, Foreign Affairs Writer (Filed: 31/12/2003)

Fears of an anarchist-inspired terrorist campaign against the European Union grew yesterday after a fourth letter bomb in as many days was received by an EU institution.

Extra security measures have been taken at all EU offices as a result of the heightened threat, spokesman Stefaan De Rynck said.

Italian anarchists are believed to have been behind the wave of letter bombs delivered to senior European officials, including Romano Prodi, the president of the European Commission, and Jean-Claude Trichet, chief of the European Central Bank.

The bombs, only one of which exploded, were posted in Bologna and delivered over the past four days. They began arriving after an explosive device detonated in dustbins outside Mr Prodi's home on Dec 21.

The most recent package was intercepted yesterday morning in The Hague in the mail room of the offices of Eurojust, an arm of the EU that helps coordinate investigations among European police forces.

It was the second letter bomb sent to The Hague. On Monday police intercepted another addressed to the director of Europol, which handles criminal intelligence and assists EU countries in fighting organised crime.

On the same day a letter to M Trichet containing explosives was intercepted at his headquarters in Frankfurt.

Mr Prodi, a former Italian prime minister, opened the first letter bomb to arrive last Saturday at his home in Bologna but was not hurt.

He said he had handled the letter "very carefully" after recent warnings - an apparent reference to two small home-made bombs that exploded outside his home before Christmas.

A group calling itself the Informal Anarchic Federation, claimed responsibility for the incident. In a letter to the offices of the Left-leaning La Repubblica newspaper, it said it was part of a federation of organisations that have carried out similar attacks in recent years.

"Today we have hit at the apparatus of control that is repressive and leading the democratic show that is the new European order," it said.

The bombs were discovered after the explosive device detonated outside Mr Prodi's home. The anarchist letter said that attack was carried out "so the pig knows that the manoeuvres have only begun to get close to him and others like him".

Luigi Persico, a Bologna police official, said his force was working through Interpol with other European countries to explore links between the bombs, but he thought the Bologna origin of the letters could be a "red herring".

The anarchists are believed to belong to an umbrella a group calling itself "Europposizione", which published a manifesto earlier this year advocating opposition to "Europe's masters, their war, their peace, their repression and their control".

Italy has a history of politically-motivated extremist groups, the most notorious of which was the Bologna-based Red Brigades whose organisational capabilities received a severe blow in October with the arrest of nine suspected senior members.

Police are keeping an open mind about Bologna becoming the focus of their investigations because of its obvious association with former acts of terrorism and the possibility that it might be used to divert investigators from the real culprits.

Letter bombs are favoured by small groups or individuals without access to sophisticated networks, said Prof Paul Wilkinson, a terrorist expert at the University of St Andrews.

"It may not be political at all. It may be an individual or group with a grievance, or a criminal gang trying to get their own back on people they blame for restricting their activities," he said.

[satchmodog9]

There are cowards everywhere. In the EU cowardice will work.