Sep 25 2008
Camorra mafia ‘declared civil war’ in Italian south
An Italian minister has said the Camorra mafia in the south of the country has “declared a civil war”.
Roberto Maroni, who has despatched 900 security personnel to the Naples area, described the murders of an Italian and six Africans in shooting last week as an “act of terrorism”.
“The Camorra has declared a civil war on the state, which must respond firmly and regain control of the region,” he said in televised remarks to the Italian senate.
He said the deployment of extra troops would “make our presence felt, and it will continue until the war is over”.
This week Italy sent 500 soldiers to join another 3,000 already deployed in Italian cities hit by a mafia crime wave.
Most were being sent to Naples and were joined by a further 400 police.
In a brutal gangland slaying last week, a recreation hall owner was shot dead along with three Ghanaians, two Liberians and a Togolese.
“They wanted to carve out a territory independently of the (Camorra’s) Casalesi clan in order to take control of drug trafficking in the hands of African immigrants,” Mr Maroni said of the killers.
The Casalesi clan is considered the Camorra’s most dangerous and powerful.
Relatives and associates of the six African victims said they had nothing to do with drug trafficking.
Camorra mafia ‘declared civil war’ in Italian south – Last Updated: 1:27AM BST 25 Sep 2008 – Telegraph.co.uk – This story was found at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/3076475/Camorra-mafia-declared-civil-war-in-Italian-south.html
