From: David Goldman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Is this just the beginning? David Goldman Bomb trial may call Bush Sr Philip Willan in Rome Wednesday February 16, 2000 The former United States president George Bush may be called to give evidence at a terrorism trial that begins in Milan today, amid persistent claims from the prosecution that the CIA knew of a rightwing bombing campaign in Italy 30 years ago. Mr Bush was director of the central intelligence agency in 1976 and defence lawyers are expected to ask the court to summons all CIA heads from 1960 to the present. Four neo-fascist suspects are accused of planting a bomb in the Piazza Fontana branch of the Banca Nazionale dell'Agricoltura on December 12 1969. The blast killed 16 people and started what became known as the "strategy of tension" - a series of indiscriminate bomb attacks against the public to destabilise the country and reduce electoral support for the Communist party. The rightwingers accused of organising the bomb attack are Carlo Maria Maggi, a doctor and leader of the neo-fascist Ordine Nuovo (New Order) group in Venice, his associate Delfo Zorzi, Giancarlo Rognoni, the leader of the Fenice (Phoenix) extremist group in Milan, and Carlo Digilio, allegedly a CIA informant. The prosecution case relies heavily on evidence from Mr Digilio, an arms expert who has admitted contacts with Italian and US intelligence officers. A carabiniere report says of him: "He began his activity in 1967, when he took the place of his father as an informant of the CIA in Venice." Mr Digilio has alleged that Mr Zorzi confided to him that he had been personally involved in the Milan bombing. "Zorzi told me with pride that he had participated in the Milan action and that despite all those deaths, which were the result of an error, it had been important because it had strengthened the right and struck a blow against the the left," Mr Digilio told an investigating judge, Guido Salvini. Mr Zorzi denies responsibility for the bombing. Another witness, Martino Siciliano, has testified on the political background to the bombing. "We rightwingers were widely manipulated by the interior ministry and used how and when they liked," he said in a radio interview last year. "The bombs I planted in Trieste and Gorizia served to prevent President [Giuseppe] Saragat from making a visit to Tito. It's obvious that the order came from someone on high." The court is expected to examine the role played by two US naval intelligence officers who operated out of a Nato base in Verona. Captains Teddy Richards and David Carrett were allegedly in close contact with the extremists implicated in the massacre. A key issue for the court will be to decide whether US agents were aware of preparations for the bombing and did nothing, or whether they promoted it. Mr Salvini believes it was the latter. "American agents were responsible for promoting the strategy of tension, even though they did not intervene directly but through organisations whose actions could not be traced to them," he said. --------------------------- ONElist Sponsor ---------------------------- Get what you deserve with NextCard Visa. ZERO. Rates as low as 0 percent Intro or 9.9 percent Fixed APR, online balance transfers, Rewards Points, no hidden fees, and much more! Get NextCard today and get the credit you deserve. Apply now. Get your NextCard Visa at <a href=" http://clickme.onelist.com/ad/NextcardCreative3 ">Click Here</a> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
