Meanwhile, in Palermo . . .

Two massive blue tanks guard the entrance to the specially built $19 million courthouse, and at least 25 guards keep watch outside. An underground tunnel is used to shuttle prisoners from the adjacent L'Ucciardone Prison into a succession of holding pens in the enormous courtroom. The scene is Palermo, Sicily, where for seven months a Mafia trial that dwarfs the various legal proceedings in New York has been under way. In the homeland of the Cosa Nostra, 474 alleged Mafiosi, whose ranks range from the reputed "Boss of Bosses," Luciano Liggio, to a corps of picciotti, or soldiers, are in the...

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