Four letter bombs have been sent to various European Union
dignitaries throughout the Europe in the last week, all of them,
according to government officials, originating from the Italian city
of Bologna. A group calling itself the Informal Anarchist Front
("F.A.I.") has claimed responsibility in a letter printed by an
Italian newspaper. Although no known Italian anarchist groups have
ever heard of this association, the acronym matches exactly that of
another above-ground, revolutionary organization in Bologna: the
Italian Anarchist Federation (F.A.I.) The F.A.I. has denounced these
attacks, and consider the Informal Anarchist Front "imaginary,"
 http://www.federazioneanarchica.org/archivio/20031228cdc.html
invented to justify the repression of anarchists in Bologna and
throughout Italy.

This suspicion harkens back to similar incidents in the recent past, such as 1997
in Milan  http://flag.blackend.net/asr/articles/llr22-2.html when a series of
letterbombs were used as a justification to raid squats, social centers,
and make sweeping arrests. Anti-globalization activists may also recall
the letter bomb scare in the days leading up to the 2001 G8 summit in
Genoa, Italy. In fact, the use of such a tactic by fascist forces in
Italy has been historically documented. During the 1970's, when
electoral support for communists was at an all time high, Fascists
engaged in a deadly bombing campagin they described as part of a "strategy of tension."
 http://flag.blackened.net/revolt/freeearth/fe3_italy.html By blaming
the bombings on the communists, the Fascists hoped to incite a breakdown
of public order to justify the imposition of military rule. The most
horrific bombing took place in Bologna in 1980, in which a bomb was
detonated at a rail station killing 85 people and injuring over 200.
Bologna was a communist stronghold at the time. The Italian Secret
Service was later implicated in the bombing and high ranking officials
in the organization were made to stand trial ten years later. Their
convictions were overturned.

One twist in the latest incidences is that the bomb addressed to
European Commissioner Romano Prodi in Bologna was wrapped in a book
 http://observer.guardian.co.uk/europe/story/0,11363,1113359,00.html by
Gabrielle D'Annunzio, a supporter of Fascism in the 1930's. Prodi
remarked that the choice of the author was probably meant to be ironic.
Whether ironic or not, these incidents have created considerable tension
among Italian anarchists in general, and members of the Italian
Anarchist Federation in particular. As one reader on Infoshop
 http://www.infoshop.org/inews/stories.php?story=03/12/30/6780314
commented, "Imagine if the 'casual repubican party' started claiming
responsibility for bombings, how much heat would the Republicans get?"

The possibility remains, however, that such bombings have been carried
out by self-proclaimed "anarchists" that are disconnected from groups
such as the FAI, who struggle to promote autonomy, social and economic
justice in Italy. It seems questionable whether anarchists working in
communities of struggle would knowingly place their comrades in danger
for such imperceptible gains. The letter bombs in question have been
poorly made, causing no injuries even when detonating in the hands of
their recipients. The history of Fascism in Italy has demonstrated
that the "strategy of tension" is served equally well by the brash
actions of "useful idiots," whether their ideology is purported to come
from the extreme Left or the extreme Right.

The Commission for the Correspondence with the Italian Anarchist
Federation has issued a communique
 http://www.federazioneanarchica.org/archivio/20031228cdc.html in which
they suggest that, far from promoting revolutionary consciousness,
"letterbombs are more useful for provokation and the criminalization of
dissent." The arsenal of the F.A.I., on the other hand, includes the
weapons of social organizing, local autonomy, trade unions, opposition
to state terrorism and the creation of a new and free society.

There are reports that raids of squats have already begun taking place
in Bologna, though no arrests have yet been made.

IMC Bologna
 http://italy.indymedia.org/features/bologna/

Federazione Anarchia Italiana (F.A.I.)
 http://www.federazioneanarchica.org/

-----------------------------------------------------------------

The Italian communique:
 http://www.federazioneanarchica.org/archivio/20031228cdc.html

Comunicati diffusi dalla Commissione di Corrispondenza della Federazione
Anarchica Italiana

Comunicato della COMMISSIONE di CORRISPONDENZA della FEDERAZIONE
ANARCHICA ITALIANA

La Commissione di Corrispondenza della Federazione Anarchica Italiana,
in riferimento alla comparsa di una fantomatica "FAI (Federazione
Anarchica Informale)" che avrebbe rivendicato le esplosioni di via
Gerusalemme a Bologna:

- denuncia la natura grave e infamante dell'attribuire questo tipo di
fatto ad una sigla che allude comunque a quella della FAI - Federazione
Anarchica Italiana: chi addita un gruppo di compagni/e alla repressione
è un poliziotto o un suo collaboratore;

- rivendica il portato storico dell'organizzazione anarchica come si è
configurata dal Congresso di S. Imier del 1872 fino ai deliberati
costitutivi della UAI del 1920 e della FAI del 1945: ORGANIZZAZIONE CHE
NON E' AFFATTO INFORMALE, perché fa della chiarezza e della collegialità
dei mandati il suo atto di garanzia di un metodo libertario ed
egualitario di prendere le decisioni;

- ribadisce la propria condanna di bombe, pacchi bomba e ordigni, che
possono colpire indiscriminatamente, e comunque paiono più che altro
funzionali alle logiche della provocazione e della criminalizzazione
mediatica del dissenso, in una fase in cui gli anarchici sono fra i
protagonisti delle lotte sociali, dagli scioperi alle iniziative contro
la guerra;

- ribadisce che gli strumenti di lotta delle anarchiche e degli
anarchici federati sono dispiegati nelle piazze, nel sociale, nel
sindacalismo autogestionario e di base, nei movimenti, nelle decine di
città in cui gestiamo circoli pubblici, nella aperta opposizione alle
logiche del dominio e dei terrorismi di Stato, per la costruzione di una
società di liberi ed eguali.

Reggio Emilia, 28/12/2003

La COMMISSIONE di CORRISPONDENZA della FEDERAZIONE ANARCHICA ITALIANA

=============

TRANSLATION:

The Coordinating Committee of the Italian Anarchist Federation (FAI),
referring to the phantom-like appearance of a "FAI (Informal Anarchist
Federation)" claiming to be the authors of the explosions in Bologna:
- denounces the serious and infamous nature of attributing this
kind of facts to initials alluding to the monogram of FAI - Italian
Anarchist Federation: - whoever points out a group of comrades
to repression is a police or one that cooperates with them;
- recalls the historical issue of the anarchist organization as it
took features in St. Imierís Congress in 1872 down to the
founding acts of the Congresses of UAI (Italian Anarchist
Union) in 1920 and FAI (Italian Anarchist Federation) in 1945:
AN ORGANIZATION IN NO WAY INFORMAL, because in
transparency and collegiality of the charges relies the guarantee
of a libertarian and egalitarian method of assuming decisions;

- asserts once more its condemnation of bombs, exploding
parcels and such devices, that may strike without
discrimination, and in any way look - at best - to be functional to
logic of provocation and criminalization of dissent through the
media, in a moment in which anarchists are among the
protagonists of social conflicts - from strikes, to initiatives
against war, etc.;

- once more asserts that the instruments of federated
anarchists are employed in open street confrontation, in social
struggle, in grass roots and self organized syndicalism, in all
movements, in the dozens of localities in which we run clubs
open to the public - always in outspoken opposition to the logics
of dominion and Stateís terrorism, for the construction of a
society of free and equals.

Reggio Emilia, Dec. 28, 2003

The coordinating committee of the Italian Anarchist Federation

Altri comunicati della CdC