Package bombs rock embassies

Package bombs exploded at the Swiss and Chilean embassies in Rome yesterday, wounding the two people who opened them, in attacks that bore similarities to bombings in Greece last month.

No group claimed responsibility, but the Italian interior minister, Roberto Maroni, said anarchists were thought to be behind the blasts in Rome.

"Various elements lead us to believe that this is the correct path," he said.

On 2 November, suspected Greek anarchists sent 14 mail bombs to foreign embassies in Athens, the French president Nicolas Sarkozy, German chancellor Angela Merkel and Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi. Two of the devices exploded, but no-one was injured.

A group called Conspiracy Nuclei of Fire claimed responsibility for the Greek blasts. It called on militants in Greece and other countries to step up their action, and Greek police noted that in the past, acts of "solidarity" have been carried out by Italian militant groups.

All embassies in Rome were informed of the blasts and Italian diplomats abroad were urged to take precautions. The first bomb exploded inside the Swiss embassy at about noon. The man who opened it was taken to hospital with hand injuries, but his life was not in danger, said the Swiss ambassador, Bernardino Regazzoni.

He recalled that the Swiss embassy in Athens had been a target of the November letter bomb campaign and that a device had been found outside the grounds of the Rome embassy in early October.

At the time, he noted, some had speculated that an anarchist-ecological group might have been responsible.

About three hours after the Swiss embassy blast, a small parcel bomb exploded inside the mailroom of the Chilean embassy, slightly wounding an administrative official, Chilean foreign minister Alfredo Moreno said in Santiago. The official travelled on his own to hospital.

The Chilean ambassador, Oscar Godoy, said the parcel - smaller than a package but bigger than a letter - had been addressed to the Chilean cultural attach. He called it "an unexplainable act of terrorism, irrational and brutal".

Rome police chief Francesco Tagliente said a suspicious package that drew police to the Ukrainian embassy was a false alarm.

The Swiss embassy beefed up its security after consulting with Italian authorities and the Swiss foreign minister, Micheline Calmy-Rey, said security at all foreign missions would be reviewed. Possible extra measures, she added, could include more protective walls or fences, surveillance cameras and evacuation plans. There have been growing concerns in Europe about attacks over the festive season following a suicide bombing in Sweden and security service fears of an assault on a European city akin to the deadly shooting spree in Mumbai, India, in 2008.