Steve Quayle News Alerts

Jan 5, 2004

The packages, addressed to British MEP Gary Titley in Manchester, and German MEP Hans-Gert Poettering, in Brussels, both burst into flames when opened.

A third device failed to explode and other parcels were being checked.

The packages, all sent from Bologna in Italy, are believed to be linked to a spate of letter bombs that were sent to senior European leaders in December.

Investigators are looking at the possibility that Italian anarchists are behind the mailings.

False alarm

The first letter bomb on Monday ignited as a package addressed to German MEP Hans-Gert Poettering, head of the European People's Party, was being opened.

A party spokesman said: "It caught fire, there was a bang. Nobody was hurt."

We are concerned that out of the tens of thousands of packages received in recent weeks one or two have apparently slipped through the security net. — David Harley, European Parliament spokesman

A second, identical device was sent to Jose Ignacio Salafranca, head of the Spanish conservatives in the European Parliament, but was not opened and passed on to Belgian police.

David Harley, a spokesman for European Parliament President Pat Cox, said: "The two packages were of a similar size, both were sent from Bologna in Italy and were postmarked 22 December 2003.

"The Belgian police are now working with our security services to rescan the tens of thousands of packages which have been sent to the European Parliament in recent weeks."

"We are relieved that no one was hurt or injured."

He said an inquiry would be carried out to assess what further security measures may be required.

The office of British MEP Jonathan Evans was evacuated after the delivery of a suspicious package, but that turned out to be a false alarm.

Letter Bomb Targets

28 December:
Romano Prodi (European Commission president)
29 December:
Europol (EU criminal intelligence service);
Jean-Claude Trichet (European Central Bank chief)
30 December:
Eurojust (EU body working for judicial co-operation)
5 January:
MEP Hans-Gert Poettering;
MEP Gary Titley;
MEP Jose Ignacio Salafranca

The package sent to Mr Titley, the leader of the Labour Group in the European Parliament, burst into flames when it was opened by his secretary.

The MEP's assistant, Roger Fellows, told the BBC that a fire took hold quite quickly before he managed to smother it.

Mr Titley, who was not in the office at the time, said: "Thankfully no one was physically injured though obviously this was a shocking incident.

"There can be no justification for these attacks which in reality are an attack on democracy."

Bologna link

In December similar packages were sent to European Commission President Romano Prodi, the head of the European Central Bank Jean-Claude Trichet and the offices of Europol and Eurojust in the Hague, the Netherlands in December.

Mr Prodi's package exploded when he opened it at his home in Bologna.

All the devices were sent from Bologna, prompting authorities to block any further parcels sent from the Italian region to EU institutions.

An unknown Italian group calling itself the Informal Anarchist Federation is believed to be behind the campaign.

At the end of last year it threatened to target "the apparatus of control that is repressive and leading the democratic show that is the new European order".

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3369129.stm