The head of the Italian police has admitted that officers used excessive force in dealing with demonstrators at last month's G8 summit in Genoa. Gianni de Gennaro told a parliamentary inquiry into the summit violence that any illegal actions by policemen would be severely punished. (Yeah right, Rixon)

There were widespread allegations of police brutality during the summit, during which one demonstrator was shot dead by a policeman and dozens injured. bbc.com

(This is what I believe is called the limited “hang-out”. And we will know how sincere this talk really is in the coming months; particularly interesting will be the response to the following. Rixon.)

Riot warning puts Nato talks in Italy under threat

Special report: globalisation

Rory Carroll in Rome
Wednesday August 8, 2001
The Guardian

The tailwind of Genoa's G8 fiasco seared Italy again yesterday when anti-globalisation leaders threatened to unleash mayhem at next month's Nato summit in Naples.
City authorities asked the government to move or postpone the summit after being warned that more than 30,000 activists would invade security zones in revenge for police brutality at Genoa.

The threat opened another front in a political crisis which has gathered momentum since last month's G8 summit, eroding the government's credibility and legitimacy.
Members of the ruling coalition broke ranks to criticise cabinet ministers following fresh revelations about the blunders which made Genoa a public relations calamity.
The prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, was also accused by allies of capitulating to the protesters by attempting to transfer a UN world food summit from Rome to Africa.
The spectre of Italy renouncing all international summits loomed closer when the mayor of Naples, Rosa Jervolino, said she no longer wanted to host the meeting of Nato defence ministers on September 26 and 27. "It is too risky. The climate in the country is too hot and I don't want to militarise the city. Putting it [the summit] off would be opportune as we are running the risk of a massive protest."
Nato secretary general Lord Robertson and US defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld are among those expected to visit the southern port to discuss US plans for a missile defence shield.
Ms Jervolino does not have the authority to cancel the summit but she is pressuring the government to do so, saying businesses and citizens are united in opposition.
The Naples-based No-global network, which sent tens of thousands of peaceful protesters to Genoa, said it would mobilise at least 30,000 people next month. The policing at Genoa, which left one rioter dead and more than 300 protesters wounded, had radicalised members and tactics, said the group's leader, Francesco Caruso.
"Against Nato we will not be unarmed. We will not take to the streets unprepared for clashes. They will have to shoot us to stop us."
Naples flared into a battle zone last March when police clashed with some of the 20,000 people protesting against an internet summit, Global Forum, leaving more than 200 injured.
The centre-right government, roasted domestically and internationally over the G8's policing, has found the pressure intensifying in its aftermath.
Mr Berlusconi, fearing further riots, infuriated the UN by suggesting its agency, the Food and Agriculture Organisation, should move a November summit from its Rome headquarters. Aides have touted Kenya and Senegal as alternatives.
Senior figures in the national alliance, a post-fascist partner in the government, joined critics who said Italy risked surrendering the rule of law if a meeting to tackle world hunger was moved.
The centre-left mayor of Rome, Walter Veltroni, wanted the summit to go ahead. "It's the duty of the Italian government to guarantee the security of its people. At this hour, Italy isn't looking very good to the outside world."
The two-month-old coalition's attempt to present a unified front over Genoa cracked when Domenico Fisichella, vice-president of the senate, turned on his colleagues for ducking responsibility. Mr Berlusconi and cabinet ministers deserved blame for the security debacles, not just police commanders, he suggested.
Airwaves yesterday were dominated by the opening of a parliamentary inquiry into how militants could set Genoa aflame while police beat hundreds of peaceful protesters, including those sleeping at a school which served as their headquarters.
The opposition will argue that the presence in Genoa of Gianfranco Fini, the post-fascist deputy prime minister, emboldened rightwing police officers.

( And note how they end the article; the implication being that the real problem are those nasty “rightwing” types. The Guardian is a famous London liberal/lefty paper and this is their own type of “spin.” The liberal lefty types are encouraged to blame the “rightwing” whilst the right-wingers themselves are led to believe that it’s all a liberal/lefty conspiracy. In plain language it’s called divide and rule. Rixon)