Top Italian government adviser killed

Gunmen on a motorbike have opened fire on an Italian government adviser as he bicycled home from work, killing him steps from his front door in Bologna.

Authorities blamed domestic terrorists for the attack that reminded many of the politically motivated killings in the 1970s and 1980s.

Marco Biagi, 52, had pushed for employment reforms that leftist parties and unions denounced, saying they would give employers too much freedom to fire workers.

The government's top anti-terrorism officials rushed to the city after the killing and police scoured the area outside Mr Biagi's home.

Two of the four shots hit Mr Biagi, according to RAI state television.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Premier Silvio Berlusconi said the killing "fills all Italians with pain".

"Terrorism has shown yet again ... that it poses a danger that needs to be fought with all our power", he said in a statement.

Interior minister Claudio Scajola - in charge of domestic security - cut short a visit to the US and flew home, saying he would report to parliament on the killing.

Mr Biagi, a married father-of-two, was one of the authors of the controversial labour reform, which has prompted Italy's major unions to threaten a general strike for next month.