Italy: Explosion from second FAI parcel bomb injures director of tax collection agency in Rome

from the press:

A parcel bomb has exploded at a tax collection office in the Italian capital Rome, injuring the director.

Officials at the Equitalia agency said the blast shattered a glass desktop, causing hand and eye injuries to director Marco Cuccagna.

Police said the package also contained a leaflet signed by the Italian anarchist group FAI.

The FAI has said it sent a letter bomb on Wednesday to the headquarters of Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt, Germany.

The Frankfurt bomb, addressed to chief executive Josef Ackermann, was intercepted and made safe, but a letter from the FAI found with the device promised three bomb attacks.

A hospital doctor said surgeons had managed to save Mr Cuccagna’s sight after removing shards of glass from both eyes. They were still attending to his hand injury, the doctor said.

‘Evil act’

Equitalia official Angelo Coco told Ansa news agency: “We believe Equitalia has been the victim recently of a denigration and disinformation campaign.”

Correspondents say Equitalia has become widely unpopular in a country where tax evasion is commonplace, but has also been accused of making mistakes with regular taxpayers.

Prime Minister Mario Monti, whose government is proposing a series of painful tax increases and pension reforms to tackle a debt crisis, defended the activities of Equitalia.

“Equitalia has always carried out and is continuing to carry out its duty in full respect of the law,” he said.

“It is essential for the functioning of the state, without which it would be impossible to provide services to citizens,” he added.

Rome Mayor Gianni Alemmano called the bombing “an evil, vile act”.

A police official said the bomb – in a yellow padded envelope – included a claim from the FAI “very similar” to that in the Deutsche Bank letter bomb, AP news agency reported.

The Informal Anarchist Federation (FAI) said it sent the letter bomb to Mr Ackermann.

German police said the group had referred to “three explosions against banks, bankers, ticks and bloodsuckers” in a note inside the package.

The FAI has carried out a string of attacks on European institutions, including parcel bombs that exploded at the Swiss and Chilean embassies in Rome in 2010, badly wounding the two people who opened them. A third bomb sent to the Greek Embassy four days later was defused.