Suspected Mafia mobsters accused of plot to blow up judge

Police in Sicily have arrested two suspected mobsters accused of plotting to murder a judge with a car bomb in an attack like the one that killed one of Italy’s most famous anti-Mafia prosecutors in 1992.

Renato Di Natale, a prosecutor in the town of Caltanissetta where the bombing was allegedly planned, today confirmed the arrests for a plan to blow up a judge with a large quantity of explosives on a road outside the central Sicilian town.

Speaking to RAI state radio, Di Natale refused to identify the judge or give details about the timing of the plot, which Italian news reports said was imminent.

Italian news agency Apcom said the plot targeted Judge Ottavio Sferlezza, who had worked in the past on the trial for the 1992 car bombing of top anti-mob prosecutor Giovanni Falcone.