Prodi escapes unhurt from letter bomb attack

European Union Commission President Romano Prodi opened a letter bomb at his home in Bologna today but the package did not explode and he was unhurt, his spokesman said.

Last week, two small bombs exploded near Prodi’s home, also without harming anyone.

A previously unknown anarchist group claimed responsibility for those attacks.

Spokesman Marco Vignudelli said today it was unclear who had sent the latest bomb.

“Prodi himself managed to open the parcel. The pack exploded with a big fire,” he said.

“There were no injuries whatsoever. It was a small bomb. I think it was not a very professional one,” he said, adding, “I cannot say more because the Italian police are now investigating.”

Prodi, who lives in Brussels, is in his hometown in northern Italy for the Christmas holidays.

On December 21, two small bombs hidden in trash bins exploded near Prodi’s Bologna home.

Those devices went off when the house was empty, and nobody was injured.

Those bombs consisted of a cooking pot, a gas cylinder and a timer, and were placed in rubbish bins yards from Prodi’s house.

Later, a group calling itself the Informal Anarchic Federation, using the acronym FAI in Italian, admitted the attack in a letter sent from Bologna to a newspaper.

Investigators said they believed the letter was probably sent by the culprits.