Palestinian Charged in Rome Blast

A Palestinian born in Lebanon was charged today with hurling a grenade at a fashionable Via Veneto cafe crowded with tourists sipping late-night coffee. Thirty-eight people were injured in the blast, five seriously.

Police identified him as Ahmad Hossen Abu Sareja, 27, and said he was a Palestinian believed born in Borj el Brajne refugee camp in Lebanon. He was caught fleeing the scene.

Police said the suspect checked in Sunday to a hotel about a 10-minute walk from Via Veneto. In his luggage they found $1,500 in cash and a return plane ticket from Damascus, Syria, to Vienna.

Hospitals reported that 15 people injured in Monday night’s attack were still hospitalized today, including three Americans, six Italians, three Britons and victims from Argentina, Australia and Spain.

Police said two grenades were hurled, apparently at a particular table in the Cafe de Paris. Only one exploded.

The police bomb squad today exploded the second grenade and reopened Via Veneto to pedestrian and car traffic.

Police offered no motive for the attack, but they noted that several groups had threatened reprisals unless seven Lebanese charged last November with conspiring to blow up the U.S. Embassy were freed.