Pro-Syrian Faction Denies Mafia Link
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BEIRUT — A Palestinian guerrilla group Thursday denied involvement in an arms-trafficking racket with the Italian-based Mafia.
A spokesman for the pro-Syrian Popular Struggle Front in Beirut said in a statement: “The front denies any links to those arrested by the Italian police and charged with smuggling in Italy.”
Italian anti-terrorist police said in Rome on Wednesday that they had identified Palestinians who are members of the front and 16 Italians involved in arms trafficking.
The Popular Struggle Front, a Marxist splinter group led by Samir Ghosha, was formed in 1983 after a rift between Damascus and the Palestine Liberation Organization.
Italian police said that raids on apartments and houses in northern Italy had uncovered a powerful radio transmitter and antenna, files on members of the Popular Struggle Front, propaganda leaflets in Arabic and technical information on remote control explosives.
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