ROME: Police found a bomb near Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s villa in Sardinia early yesterday, just hours after he met his British counterpart Tony Blair on the island, a state prosecutor said.
Berlusconi’s aides said the prime minister intended to continue his holiday at his Villa Certosa residence, and that he was “calm” despite the bomb, attributed to local separatists. The device was discovered in the early hours of yesterday morning at Porto Rotondo, a village near the prime minister’s villa shortly after an anonymous telephone call.
Berlusconi hosted Blair and his wife Cherie at his holiday mansion in Sardinia for about 24 hours. The two leaders held talks on the situation in Iraq on Tuesday, appealing for a peaceful solution to the crisis in Najaf.
In London, a spokesman for Downing Street, Blair’s official residence, asked to comment on the threat, said: “It is a matter for the Italian authorities and it is our practice not to comment on security matters.”
Police believe the device was planted after the departure of the Blairs to Tuscany on Tuesday, when much of the saturation security surrounding their visit had been withdrawn.
“The device, which was linked to a timer set to go off at 4:30 am (0230 GMT), was found in a rucksack placed beside a rubbish skip. There have been no other devices found,” said investigating magistrate Paolo De Angelis.
The caller claiming to speak on behalf of the “Proletarian Groups for Communism” contacted a regional newspaper at 10:45 pm (2045 GMT) to signal that two bombs had been planted. The caller said the first device was in a dustbin, saying the police would have to look for the second, according to the Corriere della Sera newspaper.
“It’s for Berlusconi,” the anonymous caller said. “You did not publish a document that we sent you in recent days, now we are going to demonstrate to you that we are serious,” the caller added.
After the discovery of the first device, the search continued, culminating in the discovery shortly afterwards of the second device, police reported. That turned out to be a cardboard box bound by duck tape and set under a scooter. The box contained what appeared to be a device resembling an explosive device. By yesterday morning, however, police were speaking of just one bomb. – AFP



photo: An Italian Police bomb expert shows the defused bomb which was found near Premier Silvio Berlusconi’s villa, during a Press conference at police headquarters in Porto Rotondo, Sardinia yesterday. – AP
Last update on: 19-8-2004