A spate of crude letter bombs targeting top European officials has put European Union headquarters in Brussels on high alert, and brought the Union – accustomed to criticism from the right – apparently under attack from the far left. Two simple incendiary devices exploded in the offices of European Parliament leaders Monday, and a third was detected and defused, bringing the total to seven in 10 days. None caused any injuries. All of the explosive packages bore a Bologna postmark and appear to be the work of a shadowy Italian anarchist group opposed to the EU’s plans for closer cooperation among members, fearing they will lead to a “super state.” “We are taking these threats very, very seriously,” said European Commission spokesman Eric Mamer on Thursday. “The people doing this are obviously enemies of democracy in all its forms.” They are not, however, particularly sophisticated, suggests Magnus Ranstorp, a terrorism expert at St. Andrew’s University in Scotland. “You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to put this sort of thing together,” he says. “The information needed to construct rudimentary devices is available to anyone over the Web.” Full Story
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