'Leftists exploiting economic discontent in Italy'

Italy acted on Thursday to step up security against a resurgence of politically inspired violence driven by its economic crisis and Prime Minister Mario Monti voiced unconditional support to tax officials who have come under repeated attack.The measures underscore the growing attention Italian authorities are paying to the threat of violence, either from individuals struggling to make ends meet or from radical groups seeking to exploit a spreading mood of discontent.Interior Minister Anna Maria Cancellieri convened a national security committee to address improved protection of sensitive targets after an attack on a senior nuclear industry executive last week.Security is expected to be reinforced at 14,000 locations including offices of Finmeccanica, parent company of Ansaldo Nucleare, whose chief executive was shot in the leg in an attack claimed by an anarchist group.The plan calls for the army to provide support for police forces as well as increased intelligence efforts to neutralize risks of possible subversive actions which could fuel moments of tension, the ministry said in a statement.Italy has a long experience of political violence, notably during the Years of Lead in the 1970s when dozens of officials and business leaders were killed by the far-left Red Brigades.Although the climate is nothing like as tense as it was in those years, rising unemployment, severe recession and austerity measures imposed to fight the crisis have fed a bitter mood, reflected in a series of attacks on tax agency Equitalia.In a statement following a visit to Equitalia offices in Rome, Monti expressed the unconditional support of the government and myself in the face of numerous and frequently repeated acts of intimidation and aggression in recent days which must be condemned with great firmness.