ITALY: Electioneering with Violence

Bombs, bullets and a break in the Moro case

The early spring tourists who went to see Rome's magnificent Renaissance landmark last week got a shock: the exquisite Piazza del Campidoglio was blocked off and obscured by police barricades and scaffolding. Blast damage showed on the graceful columns, and the main portal of the Palazzo Senatorio, Rome's city hall, was wrecked. Surveying the desecration of the work of the Eternal City's greatest artist, a shopkeeper snarled: "These terrorists are maniacs! What did Michelangelo ever do to them?"

Left-and right-wing extremist groups claimed responsibility...

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