Prime Minister Tony Blair is setting off for a holiday in Italy this week – and is reportedly flying into a country that is “in the grip of near-hysteria” over a potential terrorist attack.
The Times reports that, as Blair prepares to meet the Italian premier in Sardinia, Italian officials are taking very seriously threats from a group linked to al-Qaeda, which claimed responsibility for the March 11 Madrid train bombings.
The newspaper reports that the group, Abu Hafs al-Masri brigade, has threatened “unimaginable hell” if Italy’s 3,000 troops are not withdrawn from Iraq.
A statement reportedly said: “Our cells in Rome and other Italian cities are ready to carry out their mission … the targets have been defined.”
Il Giornale, the Italian newspaper owned by Paolo Berlusconi, brother of the Italian premier Silvio, reportedly stated that “the alert has never been so high”.
Report by Tim Gillett, News From Abroad
