The Italian Post Office intercepted an envelope containing a bullet and addressed to Mr Berlusconi at his private Milan residence on Saturday. The suspicious envelope, found at the Post Office in the Milan suburb of Libate, contained a note saying, “You will end up like a rat”. There were also drawings of four other members of Mr Berlusconi’s Pdl Party, including the Defence Minister, Ignazio La Russa, Ansa reports. Mr Berlusconi laughed off the incident at a campaign rally at the weekend.
On the same day, a letter bomb intended for Northern League politicians caught fire and slightly injured a Milan postman. The letter contained threats against Minister of the Interior Roberto Maroni, accusing him of failing to act over alleged incidents of rape in detention centres for illegal immigrants. A group calling itself the “Federazione Anarchica Informale” has claimed responsibility.
Mr Maroni says that both incidents constitute “real acts of terror” and has called an extraordinary meeting of the Security Committee for Wednesday.
Regional elections have taken place in Italy on Sunday and voting continues on Monday.
