A group of Italian pacifists is attempting to sue the United States government over the alleged presence of dozens of nuclear bombs in a US airbase in northeastern Italy.
The five-member group, which is calling itself Via Le Bombe (Away With The Bombs), wants the US to remove the 50 bombs which it says are stocked at the Aviano base in Pordenone.
A Pordenone court will begin examining the case on March 23.
Via Le Bombe told reporters that it had "correctly notified" the office of the US Secretary of State of the legal proceedings.
"We are asking for the immediate removal of the 50 atomic weapons which are present in the base because they are a violation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, signed by both Italy and the US.
"The presence of the weapons is a source of risk, exposing our territory to possible threats and attacks," the group said.
The pacifists also announced a hunger strike in protest at plans to expand a US military base in the northern city of Vicenza.
They said they would take it in turns to hunger strike in a show of solidarity with the people of Vicenza.
"We ask the government to withdraw its approval (of the base's enlargement) and carry out a serious review with regard to all existing bases, their functions and costs," the group said.
They said they would take part in a demonstration against the base due to be held in Vicenza on February 17.
Premier Romano Prodi announced last week that the Italian government would not oppose the enlargement of the Vicenza base.
Prodi's decision caused shock and anger among several parties on the left of his nine-party coalition.
The Communist Refoundation Party, the Italian Communists' Party and the Greens in particular have urged him to backpedal and allow Vicenza locals to decide on the issue for themselves via a referendum.
Prodi has argued that to oppose the base's expansion would be diplomatically impossible because the plan has already been approved by the previous, Silvio Berlusconi-led government.
The Vicenza base currently houses 2,600 troops.
The expansion project involves building barracks at the city's Dal Molin airport to accommodate 1,800 more US soldiers who are now stationed in Germany.
But pacifists in the governing coalition have warned that they do not consider the issue closed.
Several have threatened to retaliate by voting against upcoming legislation financing Italian peacekeepers in Afghanistan.
Almost 2,000 Italian troops are serving in Afghanistan as part of the NATO-led ISAF peacekeeping mission there.
Prodi's government has a majority of just one seat in the Senate, meaning that any desertions would make it very difficult to pass the Afghanistan bill.
However, a group of life senators could vote for the government and save the day as they have in the past.
Also some senators from the centre-right opposition ranks could step in to approve the measure. But this would be embarrassing for the premier and could lead to calls for a new government and even possibly new elections.
