Bomb Puts Italy on Alert Ahead of G-8 Summit

A letter bomb blew up in the hands of a police officer Monday, seriously wounding him and fueling fears of violence at a summit that will bring world leaders to Genoa this week.

Hours later, a second mail bomb blast ripped another policeman’s arm off and wounded a third officer in Avezzano, hundreds of miles to the southeast, state television reported. But police said that blast was part of a local vendetta and unconnected to the summit.

In Genoa, where leaders of the Group of 8 industrialized nations will begin a three-day summit Friday, an envelope exploded just after a postal carrier delivered it to a station of the Carabinieri, Italy’s paramilitary national police force.

The officer was wounded in the hands and one eye. There were no immediate claims of responsibility, a Carabinieri spokesman said.

Police in Genoa said the force of the blast left them with little evidence. However, officials were investigating another crude explosive device found later in Genoa, a small suitcase containing two bottles of gasoline, wires and a wristwatch.

Genoa is edgy ahead of the summit, which is to bring the leaders of the United States, Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Russia to the northwestern port city.