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Rome:
Package bombs exploded at the Swiss and Chilean embassies in Rome
on Thursday, wounding the two people who opened them, in attacks
that bore similarities to bombings by anarchists in Greece last
month.
One of the wounded is at risk of losing an eye, a hospital
official said. No group claimed responsibility, but Italian
Interior Minister Roberto Maroni said anarchists were thought to
be behind the blasts.
"Various elements lead us to believe that this is the correct
path," he was quoted as saying by the ANSA news agency.
"These are very violent groups
that are also present in Spain and Greece and are very well
connected", he added.
On Nov. 2, suspected Greek radical anarchists sent 14 mail bombs
to foreign embassies in Athens, French President Nicolas Sarkozy,
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Italian Premier Silvio
Berlusconi. Two of the devices exploded, causing no injuries.
A group called Conspiracy Nuclei of Fire claimed responsibility
for the Greek blasts. It called on militants in Greece and other
countries to step up their action, and Greek police noted Thursday
that in the past, acts of "solidarity" have been carried out
between Greek and Italian militant groups.
While there may be an emotional link between Greek and Italian
militant groups, Greece says it is unlikely that militants from
the country were showing the Italians what to do.
All embassies in Rome were informed of the blasts and Italian
diplomats abroad were urged to take precautions.
The first bomb exploded inside the Swiss Embassy at around noon.
The man who opened it was hospitalized with serious hand injuries,
but his life was not in danger, Swiss Ambassador Bernardino
Regazzoni said.
Three hours later, a small parcel bomb exploded inside the mail
room of the Chilean Embassy, slightly wounding an administrative
official, Cesar Mella, Chilean Foreign Minister Alfredo Moreno
said in Santiago. The official went on his own to the hospital for
treatment.
Both victims had wounds to their hands and were in stable
condition, but Mella risks losing his right eye because of lesions
on his cornea from the blast, said Massimiliano Talucci, a
spokesman at Rome's Umberto I Hospital.
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