British MEP targeted by suspected terror outfit
A letter bomb was sent yesterday to the offices of Manchester MEP Gary Titley.
Two letter bombs addressed to European MEPs have exploded.
One was sent to the offices of Manchester MEP Gary Titley. A small device burst into flames slightly injuring his secretary.
The Leader of the European Parliamentary Labour Party is the latest politician to receive the potentially deadly mail which has a Bologna postcode.
The presidents of the European Central Bank and the European Commission both received letter bombs last month.
In Frankfurt, ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet was sent a suspected letter bomb, two days after a booby-trapped parcel burst into flames in the hands of Romano Prodi at his home in Bologna, Italy.
The letter, addressed to Mr Prodi’s wife, included The Pleasure, a book by Gabriele D’Annunzio, an early supporter of fascism.
The Informal Anarchic Federation, an Italian anarchist group, was believed to have been behind two other explosions in rubbish bins near Mr Prodi’s home.
Mr Titley said: “This morning a member of my staff opened a package addressed to me and it immediately caught fire.
“Thankfully no one was physically injured though obviously this was a shocking incident.
“There can be no justification for these attacks which in reality are an attack on democracy,” he added.
Mr Titley said he was at a loss as to why he has been targeted.
Mr Titley said he suspected the bombers “may have just gone through the directory and picked out a few political group leaders.”
Suspected letter bombs were also sent to the European Parliament in Brussels on Monday.
One device exploded when it was opened by a secretary working for Hans-Gert Poettering, of the Centre-Right European People’s Party. She was unhurt.
