ROME – Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi yesterday defended his record in fighting the Mafia and vowed to hit back at the opposition press that reported he was being investigated in connection with a 1993 Mafia bombing campaign.
“If there’s a person who by nature, sensitivity, mentality, background, culture and political effort is very far from the Mafia, it is me,” the 73-year-old said.
New evidence from a Cosa Nostra mobster turned state witness has prompted prosecutors to reopen an investigation into the Sicilian Mafia’s bomb attacks in 1993 on Rome, Milan and Florence as part of its war on the Italian state.
Jailed mobster Gaspare Spatuzza has told magistrates that Mr Berlusconi and senator Marcello Dell’Utri were mentioned to him in connection with the attacks by a Mafia boss, but Florence’s chief prosecutor said on Saturday the court was not investigating either man.
– (Reuters)