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EU targeted in letter bomb attacks ( 2003-12-30 22:51) (Agencies) European Union headquarters said on Tuesday it had tightened some security measures after letter bombs were sent to two leading EU officials and the bloc's police agency, but was taking the threats in its stride.
Another letter bomb was delivered on Tuesday to another EU institution, called Eurojust, which is based in The Hague and made up of prosecutors and judges.
Two letters, one to EU Commission President Romano Prodi and one to European Central Bank chief Jean-Claude Trichet, came from Bologna. German federal public prosecutors said they were investigating links to an Italian anarchist group. Italian newspaper la Repubblica said Italian police had a list of 250 names, but no proof of who sent the letters.
"We have already reviewed our own situation in Commission buildings, we have strengthened some measures," said spokesman Stefaan De Rynck. He declined to detail the steps taken, but said they were made after the letter to Prodi on Saturday.
"We are confident that current security arrangements are adequate," he added.
De Rynck said no suspect packages had been sent to Commission buildings. Security in the European area of the city was normal.
The letter to Prodi, who was in his home city of Bologna, was the first of a mini-wave of explosive parcels. It exploded in his hands, but the former Italian prime minister was unhurt.
The letter to Trichet was intercepted and the bank's executive board held its regular weekly meeting on Tuesday. The ECB would not comment on any extra security steps.
"We know the letter was capable (of exploding)," Hartmut Schneider, spokesman for the prosecutors' office, told Reuters.
The head of Europol, Juergen Storbeck, was the target of the third letter bomb. It was also intercepted and deactivated.
"We are now investigating what was in the package and how dangerous it was," said a public prosecutor's office spokesman.
Europol handles criminal intelligence and assists EU states in their fight against organized crime.
SEARCH FOR SUSPECTS
The Bologna link has brought suspicion on Italian radicals, although a terrorism expert said it was too early to tell.
La Repubblica said the Interior Ministry's list of 250 names includes anarchists from across Europe, in particular Italians, Spaniards and Greeks.
The anarchists are believed to fall under an umbrella group called "Euroopposizione," founded earlier this year. Its manifesto says it is against "Europe's masters, their war, their peace, their repression, their control," la Repubblica reported.
Professor Paul Wilkinson, Chairman of the Center for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence at the University of St Andrews, said letter bombs were favored by small-scale groups or individuals with no sophisticated networks. Despite the Bologna link, he said Italian terror was usually based on ideology. "It may not be political at all, it may be an individual with some grievance, a group with some grievance, or a criminal gang trying to get their own back on people they blame for some restriction on their activities," he said.
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