Italy on Thursday stopped to remember the victims of the 1980 bombing of the Bologna train station which left 85 people dead and some 200 injured.
Relatives of the victims here took part in a march from the central Piazza Nettuno to the station where Premier Romano Prodi made an unannounced appearance.
In a brief speech, the premier, who is a native of Bologna, said the massacre was carried out by terrorists "who tried to destroy democracy in this nation and who were defeated on moral, cultural and political levels".
"We came here above all to listen to the voices of the victims of terrorism. And what they are asking is for this country to have democracy, rule of law and peace.
"Their sacrifice is a condemnation of all those who in some way justify violence. The victims want reconciliation not vengeance, but they also want the truth," Prodi said.
"We must not be afraid of the truth. It is only through the truth that there can be real reconciliation," the premier added.
In a message to Bologna Mayor Sergio Cofferati, House Speaker Fausto Bertinotti stressed the need to uncover the full truth behind the station bombing because "a nation which cannot look back at its past with full understanding cannot plan for its future.
The Bologna station massacre is believed to have been the joint work of neofascists, members of the secret services and the subversive right-wing Propaganda-Due Masonic lodge, which was outlawed in 1982.
In November 1995, the Supreme Court upheld life sentences for two neofascist terrorists, Valerio Fioravanti, a former TV child star, and Francesca Mambro, who were convicted of planting the bomb.
Also upheld were lengthy jail terms for the head of the P-2 lodge, Licio Gelli, rogue operatives in the military intelligence service Sismi, and middleman Francesco Pazienza for working to sidetrack investigations into the massacre.
Fioravanti and his companion Mambro have readily confessed to a string of murders but have always maintained they had nothing to do with the Bologna bomb. They currently are currently out on a limited parole.
Although many believe the attack was a bid to destabilize a country trying to leave behind years of terrorism, the underlying reasons for the bombing have never fully emerged.
