Italian Government Aide Murdered, Political Motive Suspected

BBC News

Marco Biagi, a close aide to Italian Labour Minister Roberto Maroni, has been shot dead outside his home in Bologna. Eyewitnesses said two people on a
motorbike approached the 51-year-old
economist and law professor as he cycled
home, and gunned him down. Police have begun an investigation into
what is being seen as an act of political
terrorism.

Interior Minister Claudio Scajola has
interrupted his trip to the United States and
decided to return immediately to Italy after
learning of Mr Biagi's murder. He described the killing as a very grave act.

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said the
killing "fills all Italians with pain".

Marco Biagi drafted controversial labour
laws. "Terrorism has shown yet again that it
poses a danger that needs to be fought
with all our power," Berlusconi said in a statement.

No-one has claimed responsibility for the
shooting, but correspondents say the
incident raises fears of a domestic terror
attack. Mr Biagi's murder comes just weeks after
the Justice Ministry warned that Italy could
witness a revival of politically-motivated
terrorism. Less than a month ago, a bomb exploded
near the Interior Ministry in Rome. And left-wing groups are currently furious
over a planned reform of labour statutes
that will make it easier to hire and fire staff. Mr Biagi was one of the authors of the
proposed employment changes.

Legacy of terror

During the 1970s and 1980s, Italy was
plagued by domestic attacks from both
right-wing and left-wing terrorists, which
killed hundreds and left a legacy of
lingering political hostility. In 1999, top Labour Ministry adviser
Massimo D'Antona was killed in an attack
allegedly carried out by the militant leftist
Red Brigades. That group carried out many attacks in the
1970s -- most notoriously the 1978 killing of
former Premier Aldo Moro.