A previously unheard of Italian “anarcho-insurrectionist” organisation is under investigation by anti terrorist experts from six countries after a number of letter bombs were sent in the past few weeks to prominent EU officials including Romano Prodi (President of the European Commission) and the Governor of the European Central Bank. The letters were mailed from Bologna by a group calling itself the Informal Anarchic Federation (FAI). They also caused two small explosions near Prodi's home earlier in December. No one was hurt, although one of them went off in Prodi's hands, but the only damage done was some carpet getting burnt.

Meanwhile the mainstream media scream that we are witnessing a resurgence in "anarchist terrorism" and that it's only a matter of luck that no-one has been injured. The Independent argued that the money used for the war on Iraq would have been better spent on surveillance of potential terrorists. Security measures have been stepped up within EU state institutions and on Monday, Italy announced the creation of a European task force to combat "anarchist insurrection". Millions of pounds will be spent on blanket repression of social movements and activists. The head of the European Parliament, Pat Cox (PD) made the startling observation that the incidents were a "criminal conspiracy against democracy". Which by a strange coincidence, were exactly the words used by a SchNews correspondent describing Silvio Berlusconi’s regime in Italy.

The majority of anarchists and communists in Italy and worldwide are opposed to such acts. The Italian Anarchist Federation (FAI), co-incidentally sharing the same initials as this strange new group and having suffered state repression under similar circumstances, denounced the indiscriminate violence of such devices. Suspiciously, other Anarchist groups in Italy say they have never heard of this group, said to have 350 members. Prodi is not such an obvious target for violent groups as Berlusconi and his cronies, who are the real oppressors in Italy.

Many are of the opinion that the recent events are the latest incident in the Italian state's "Strategy of Tension". In 1997 in Milan, a series of letterbombs were used as a justification to raid squats, social centres, and make sweeping arrests. Anti-globalisation activists may also recall the letter bomb scare in the days leading up to the 2001 G8 summit in Genoa. Prodi, target of the anarchists, is also Berlusconi’s main political rival in Italian politics.
In the 1970's, when electoral support for communists was at an all time high, Fascists engaged in a deadly bombing campaign. By blaming the bombings on the communists, the Fascists hoped to incite a breakdown of public order to justify the imposition of military rule. In Bologna in 1980, a bomb was detonated at a rail station killing 85 people and injuring over 200. Bologna was a communist stronghold at the time. The Italian Secret Service was later implicated in the bombing and high ranking officials in the organization were made to stand trial ten years later. Their convictions were overturned.

It is clear that in Berlusconi’s Italy, there will be no proper investigation, no objective reporting in the mainstream media and as usual, no justice, no peace …

To follow the story on indymedia:
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read more about the strategy of tension:
here