This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/17/aldo-moro-murder-mystery-italy
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Aldo Moro mystery: Italian prosecutors revisit former PM's 1978 murder | Aldo Moro mystery: Italian prosecutors revisit former PM's 1978 murder |
| (4 months later) | |
| It was arguably the darkest episode of Italy's postwar history: the kidnapping of former prime minister Aldo Moro in 1978 and the discovery of his corpse 55 days later in the boot of a Renault 4 in central Rome. | It was arguably the darkest episode of Italy's postwar history: the kidnapping of former prime minister Aldo Moro in 1978 and the discovery of his corpse 55 days later in the boot of a Renault 4 in central Rome. |
| Despite four trials, numerous investigations and the passage of 35 years, the affair continues to raise questions among Italians, with many sharing the belief that the truth has never fully come out. | Despite four trials, numerous investigations and the passage of 35 years, the affair continues to raise questions among Italians, with many sharing the belief that the truth has never fully come out. |
| On Monday it emerged that Rome prosecutors had taken a tentative first step towards reopening the case, after new claims about the supposed involvement of external forces. | On Monday it emerged that Rome prosecutors had taken a tentative first step towards reopening the case, after new claims about the supposed involvement of external forces. |
| There is no doubt that the murder was carried out by members of the urban guerrilla Red Brigades, several of whom were given hefty sentences for the crime. But there are unanswered questions over how Moro's 55 days in captivity were handled by the authorities. | There is no doubt that the murder was carried out by members of the urban guerrilla Red Brigades, several of whom were given hefty sentences for the crime. But there are unanswered questions over how Moro's 55 days in captivity were handled by the authorities. |
| Some suspect that acting alongside the terrorists were bigger forces for whom Moro's disappearance was, in the circumstances, a necessary evil. | Some suspect that acting alongside the terrorists were bigger forces for whom Moro's disappearance was, in the circumstances, a necessary evil. |
| Moro, president of the then powerful Christian Democrat (DC) party, was on his way to inaugurate a new government on 16 March 1978 when he was snatched and his five bodyguards killed. The government was to have been a "historic compromise" between the DC and the Italian Communist party (PCI), the biggest of its kind in the west. With the cold war raging, Moro's plans were deeply controversial – in Rome, Moscow and Washington. | Moro, president of the then powerful Christian Democrat (DC) party, was on his way to inaugurate a new government on 16 March 1978 when he was snatched and his five bodyguards killed. The government was to have been a "historic compromise" between the DC and the Italian Communist party (PCI), the biggest of its kind in the west. With the cold war raging, Moro's plans were deeply controversial – in Rome, Moscow and Washington. |
| In the eight weeks before his bullet-ridden body was discovered on 9 May, the Italian government insisted it would not negotiate with terrorist organisations. A massive police investigation failed to rescue Moro. Some say tipoffs were mishandled or ignored. | In the eight weeks before his bullet-ridden body was discovered on 9 May, the Italian government insisted it would not negotiate with terrorist organisations. A massive police investigation failed to rescue Moro. Some say tipoffs were mishandled or ignored. |
| Prosecutors are reported to be evaluating if there is enough fresh evidence to warrant reopening the case. La Repubblica said they were acting in response to some of the new claims and tipoffs received in recent years. | Prosecutors are reported to be evaluating if there is enough fresh evidence to warrant reopening the case. La Repubblica said they were acting in response to some of the new claims and tipoffs received in recent years. |
| The intervention that appears to have carried most weight is a book written by a former magistrate who led investigations of the affair, in which he implicates foreign intelligence services such as the KGB and the highest echelons of the Italian state. | The intervention that appears to have carried most weight is a book written by a former magistrate who led investigations of the affair, in which he implicates foreign intelligence services such as the KGB and the highest echelons of the Italian state. |
| Ferdinando Imposimato, now honorary president of Italy's supreme court, singled out former prime ministers Giulio Andreotti and Francesco Cossiga when he told the AffarItaliani website: "The role [of the Italian political class] was one of absolute subordination to this foreign hegemony. In Italy the orders that came in from abroad were obeyed." | Ferdinando Imposimato, now honorary president of Italy's supreme court, singled out former prime ministers Giulio Andreotti and Francesco Cossiga when he told the AffarItaliani website: "The role [of the Italian political class] was one of absolute subordination to this foreign hegemony. In Italy the orders that came in from abroad were obeyed." |
| Andreotti died last month; Cossiga in 2010. Andreotti was initially convicted but later acquitted of ordering the murder of an investigative journalist suspected of knowing too much about the Moro affair. | Andreotti died last month; Cossiga in 2010. Andreotti was initially convicted but later acquitted of ordering the murder of an investigative journalist suspected of knowing too much about the Moro affair. |
| Writing in La Repubblica, Miguel Gotor, a centre-left politician and historian, condemned the "intellectual and civil sloth" that had led to the lingering mystery over the murder. | Writing in La Repubblica, Miguel Gotor, a centre-left politician and historian, condemned the "intellectual and civil sloth" that had led to the lingering mystery over the murder. |
| He said a new judicial investigation, while to a certain extent welcome, risked being "the belated and rotten fruit of a sick country", adding: "Certainly, this new move by the magistrature could prove useful because it will gather together new documents and testimony, but we will be forgiven for doubting that it will be able to give qualitatively more justice than has hitherto been the case." | He said a new judicial investigation, while to a certain extent welcome, risked being "the belated and rotten fruit of a sick country", adding: "Certainly, this new move by the magistrature could prove useful because it will gather together new documents and testimony, but we will be forgiven for doubting that it will be able to give qualitatively more justice than has hitherto been the case." |
| Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. | Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. |