Italy
Attempt to kill Italian journalist failsPosted Sep 20 2007
An attempt to kill Italian journalist Lirio Abbate with a car bomb on Sept. 2 was unsuccessful.
Abbate's bodyguards spotted two men trying to attach a bomb underneath his car in Palermo, the Sicilian capital. The would-be assassins managed to flee the scene.
Abbate is well known for his reporting on organized crime for the ANSA news agency and the national daily newspaper La Stampa.
The number of death threats Abbate received has increased after his book “I Complici” (The Accomplices) came out early this year. In his book Abbate names about a dozen lawmakers from across the political spectrum with alleged links to the Mafia.
The Palermo provincial public security committee gave Abbate a permanent police escort on 21 May because of the death threats. He is the first Palermo journalist to travel in a bulletproof car accompanied by two bodyguards.
Journalist Roberto Saviano, correspondent in Naples of the weekly L'Espresso, has also been under police protection since October last year after he received threats following an in-depth report on the city's Mafiosi.
Related links: ASNA, La Stampa, L'Espresso