CHILE: Foreign Ministe Alfredo Moreno says investigation in progress after string of embassy attacks in Rome left a Chilean embassy worker injured

Record ID: 359339

  • Title: CHILE: Foreign Ministe Alfredo Moreno says investigation in progress after string of embassy attacks in Rome left a Chilean embassy worker injured
  • Date: 24th December 2010
  • Summary: SANTIAGO, CHILE (DECEMBER 23, 2010) (REUTERS) PRESIDENTIAL PALACE
  • Embargoed: 8th January 2011 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Chile, Chile
  • Country: Chile
  • Reuters ID: LVADN5FSTOYYGOO976NYRANLXQRI
  • Story Text: Chile's Foreign Minister, Alfredo Moreno, said an investigation is in progress after a string of embassy attacks in Rome left a Chilean embassy worker injured on Thursday (December 23, 2010).
    A blast at the Swiss embassy in the Italian capital wounded a worker there. There were also unconfirmed reports at the Ukrainian mission, and Italian police searched other embassies for parcel bombs.
    The two victims of the attacks were working in the mailrooms of their respective embassies when packages blew up in their hands. The Swiss worker was seriously injured and was rushed to hospital. The Chilean employee was hurt to a lesser degree.
    "It occurred between two and three in the afternoon. Apparently it was a letter addressed to a cultural association. This is all the information that we are going to have to check. One Chilean person, Cesar Mella, an administrative worker, was injured. So far we understand that he has minor injuries in various parts of his body," said Chilean Foreign Minister Alfredo Moreno, during a press conference outside the presidential palace in Santiago.
    The Italian government suggested the attacks could be the work of anarchist groups. Although there was no claim of responsibility, the incidents bore similarities to an episode in Greece last month in which far-left militants sent parcel bombs to foreign governments and embassies in Athens.
    "What we do know is that there are now four embassies affected. We don't know where it is coming from, what there causes are nor who has sent them," Moreno added.
    Analysts said that based on early reports, leftist or revolutionary groups appeared the most likely suspects rather than Islamist militants, despite warnings this month that al Qaeda was planning attacks in the United States, Britain and Europe around Christmas.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register