Italian anarchist group threatens to target Monti

An Italian anarchist group that has claimed responsibility for a series of bombings and the shooting of an Italian nuclear company boss threatened on Wednesday to target Prime Minister Mario Monti.

The Informal Anarchist Federation had warned that the shooting which wounded Ansaldo Nucleare boss Roberto Adinolfi earlier this month was the first of eight attacks in revenge for the arrest of eight Greek anarchists.

"We are telling Monti that he is one of the seven left," said a statement sent to two local newspapers in the southern Italian region of Calabria.

"The people have no interest in staying in Europe, in saving the banks, in balancing the budget of a state that has wasted money," it said.

The group, known by its Italian acronym as FAI, has claimed dozens of attacks since 2003 including letter bombing campaigns that have targeted then European Commission president and Deutsche Bank chief Josef Ackermann.

In the letter received on Wednesday the group also threatened to target a local director of the tax collection agency Equitalia, which has become a focus for public anger in recent weeks as strict austerity measures hit home.

The statement was not authenticated by the police.

Italian authorities have beefed up security for magistrates and business leaders and deployed military personnel to strategic locations in response to the threat, reminiscent of political militancy attacks in the 1970s and 1980s.