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Thursday, 21 March, 2002, 10:59 GMT Online Video Report: http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/video/36469000/rm/_36469180_killings6_willey_vi. ram The BBC's David Willey : "The Red Brigades have been dormant for years" Red Brigades admit killing ================== http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/europe/newsid_1885000/1885002.stm Crowds gathered in Bologna to show their respects Italian police say they are treating as credible an internet document which appears to be an admission by Red Brigades militants that they killed a senior Italian government aide. "An armed nucleus of our organisation executed Marco Biagi" Internet statement Marco Biagi, an adviser to the labour minister, was shot dead on Tuesday outside his home in central Bologna by two men on a motorcycle. The 26-page statement says Mr Biagi, aged 52, was "executed" for his role in drawing up labour reforms, which it described as "regulation of the exploitation of salaried workers". A police official in Bologna said: "The language and contents of the statement seem to prove its authenticity." The document was signed by the Red Brigades for the construction of a Combatant Communist Party (BR-PCC), which police believe is the second generation of the Red Brigades group, responsible for a wave of killings in the 1970s and 1980s. It was posted on the website Caserta24ore, which describes itself as an "independent territorial communications agency". The assassination has sent shockwaves through Italy and raised fears of a resurgence of political violence by left-wing and right-wing extremists. Suspicion had already fallen on the Red Brigades, after evidence emerged that the same gun might have been used to kill another ministry official, Massimo d'Antona, three years ago. Labour controversy A symbol of the group was also found scratched into the wall of Mr Biagi's house, and a man saying he represented the brigades called a Bologna newspaper to claim responsibility. "Democracy is being blackmailed" La Repubblica Police are trying to establish how long the scratched symbol had been there. Most of the leaders of the original Red Brigades - who, most notoriously, killed former Prime Minister Aldo Moro in 1978 - were eventually caught and sentenced to long prison terms. The Justice Ministry warned earlier this year that Italy could witness a revival of politically-motivated violence, after a bomb exploded near the Interior Ministry in Rome. "Democracy is being blackmailed," La Repubblica newspaper said on Thursday. The proposed reform of labour laws is highly controversial in Italy. Trade unions are planning a general strike in April. Escort withdrawn They have rejected a call from Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to cancel the strike, in the wake of the killing, but are planning a demonstration against terrorism next Wednesday. "They have abandoned you" Anonymous call to Biagi Mr Biagi will be given a state funeral at the weekend. It has emerged that he received a number of telephone threats after his police escort was withdrawn last year. "They have abandoned you," one caller is alleged to have told him. Police hope the killers may have been caught on video as Mr Biagi arrived at the city's railway station, and set off for home on his bicycle. The 26-page internet statement also justified the 11 September attacks against the United States, saying they represented "a concrete act of opposition to the imperialist strategy". --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [email protected] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
