Police arrest man suspected of threatening Prodi

Police investigating shadowy anarchist groups suspected of sending letter bombs to European Commission President Romano Prodi and other EU officials arrested a suspect in Sardinia today.

They believe Luca Farris, 25, may have sent a package containing threats to Prodi’s home in Bologna last month, the ANSA news agency said. It was not clear if he had any role in the letter bombs.

Farris is accused of criminal association against the democratic system. He was picked up at his family’s home in Assemini, a town on Sardinia’s southern coast.

Numerous letter bombs have been sent to EU officials in recent weeks. One burst into flames in Prodi’s hands at his Bologna home on December 27.

More attacks followed, and investigators have linked them to the previously unknown Informal Anarchic Federation. This group has claimed responsibility for some of the attacks and said it targeted Prodi as a representative of a repressive “new European order.”

Farris is accused of being a member of the Anonymous Sardinian Anarchistic Insurrectionists, a group believed tied to the Informal Anarchic Federation, ANSA said.

Authorities believe Farris sent Prodi a package that arrived on January 12, containing threats but no explosive device. Reports said the package contained used bullets and defused explosives.