ITALIAN REDS’ BID TO OVERTHROW ROME GOVERNMENT

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22690, 15 July 1948, Page 5

ITALIAN REDS’ BID TO OVERTHROW ROME GOVERNMENT

Battle for Streets After Shooting of Leader

(h .Z.P. A. — P.euter—Copyright.) [11.15 a.m.) LONDON, July 14. Italy is seething with excitement after the attempted assassination of Signor Togliatti, the Italian Communist leader, as he was leaving the Chamber of Deputies.

Strikes are paralysing most cities. The situation is resolving itself into a struggle for control of the streets between the Communists and the Government, with the Government so far holding its own.

The Communist Party is using assassination in an attempt to overthrow the Government.

POLICE CHARGE MILLING CROWDS

Parties of young Communists hooted at private cars which continued to move about Rome.

The Confederation of Labour announces that it is calling for a nationwide general strike tonight but already most business activity has ceased in Rome and all shops and cafes are closed.

A threatening crowd milled around the centre' of Rome, some pulling up paving stones and manholes. The police, witn sub-machine-guns,- kept them moving. There are heavy police

TOGLIATTI HIT BY THREE BULLETS

Four shots, three of which struck Signor Togliatti as he was leaving the Chamber of Deputies, were, fired by a would-be-assassin. Signoi* Togliatti was seriously wounded. The Ansa, the semi-official news agency, reported that three of the four bullets struck Signor Togliatti in the spleen, below the rang anct in me nsuci.

Signor Togliatti, after receiving first aid in the chamber infirmary, was taken to hospital for an operation. The chief surgeon at the hospital described his condition as serious. Signor Togiiatti’s assailant was Michele Ballante, a Sicilian student, who came to Rome three days ago. He attended the Chamber of Deputies’ session on Monday with a ticket furnished him by a Sicilian deputy. He approached the Chamber this morning and asked to see Signor Togliatti. When this was refused, he waited in a narrow street near the chamber and fired a revolver as Signor Togliatti bent to enter a car.

Signor Togiiatti’s wife, who is a Senator, rushed from the turmoil of the Senate when she heard the news and was in time to accompany her husband to hospital. Signor de Gasperi, the Speaker, Signor Bonomi, and other Parliamentary leaders followed the ambulance there. The police, meanwhile, arrested newspaper photographers en masse and made baton charges on the crowd which gathered at the scene of the shooting. Police reinforcements arrived and cleared the entire area surrounding the Chamber of Deupties. The Prime Minister, Signor de Gasperi, when he arrived in the Chamber after the shooting, said: “It is the worst thing that could happen.” All troops in the Milan area were confined to barracks in a general alert. A general strike has been called in Milan and large-scale demonstrations have been ordered tor 5 p.m. The Senate suspended its session after a furious demonstration.

The Associated Press says that the attack on Signor Togliatti came as the extreme Left agreed to continue its “unity of action” pact against Signor de Gasperi’s Government. Signor Togliatti, who was trained in Moscow, has been the bitterest opponent of Italian participation in the European recovery programme, contending that it would enslave the Italians to American economy. Signor Raffaele Lettieri, a deputy, who is also a surgeon, attended Signor Togliatti. He said the assailant first fired three shots. One bullet entered the left side and did not touch the vital ergans. Another penetrated the libs and lodged in the back. A third grazed the head.

Then as Signor Togliatti lay on the ground fhe assailant fired twice againNeither bullet slruck him.

guards outside the newspaper buildings. At least 22 persons have been injured in demonstrations in Rome. The Communist-led General Labour Confederation claimed that the strikes are virtually paralysing Italy's industry and transport. The Italian Communist Party has issued a manifesto demanding “for internal peace” the resignation of Signor de Gasperi’s Government. The manifesto said the attempt against Signor Togliatti revealed the intention “to give a mortal blow to democracy and liberty by the Government of civil war.”

The doctors gave Signor Togliatti two blood transfusions and performed two operations. They announced later that the operations had been successful and that Signor Togliatti was out of danger.

Ballante claimed that he belonged to no political party but had long planned the attempt because “Togliatti is an enemy of the nation.” In Liberal Party circles, it was stated that Ballante had resigned from the party in 1946. The attack ironically—came while the Chamber debated the Government's bill to strengthen the drive to collect unlicensed arms which the Communists bitterly assailed. The announcement ol the attack caused furious demonstrations in the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. Amidst the uproar a Left Wing Socialist deputy screamed at the Minister of the Interior. Signor Mario Scelba: “You are an accomplice." A Communist shouted: "This is what your noliev of bate has brought.” A Christian Democrat Party statement said that it “renewed in these tragic circumstances its open condemnation of every form of violence.” The Cabinet met and adopted a resolution saying that the attack had aroused the indignation of all Italians” and expressed the hope of Signor 'foglinHi’s survival."

The Cabinet will meet again later today to consider the situation arising from the calling of a nation-wide 24hour strike by the Confederation of Labour, starting at midnight. Swift strikes, which followed the shooting, threw Rome, Milan, Genoa and Turin into confusion. Communist atcion squads appeared quickly in Rome's streets, went to every shop and office and advised the employers to close.

Buses in Rome stopped in the middle of their journeys and the drivers abandoned them. Printers walked out of newspaper offices and shops closed. The police look swift precautions to prevent bloodshed.

Extra police were posted in all Rome’s Government buildings. One hundred police surrounded the hospital, where Signor Togliatti lay. Tanks joined the reinforcements in the square before the Chamber of Deputies.

Shots were fired in the air when Leftist workers converged on the Piazza Colonna from all parts of Rome. The police fired and then charged, swinging rifle butts and truncheons as more Leftist reinforcements arrived in trucks.

Between 2000 and 3000 police finally cleared the Piazza Colonna. In the Via Nazionale, one of Rome’s main thoroughfares, the police charged and dispersed several hundred shirtless workmen.

A crowd of demonstrators swept the streets of Genoa when the news came, closing shops and stopping all traffic. The situation outside jhe big cities remained normal this afternoon.

Informed quarters in Rome recently forecast taht Signor Togliatti might be appointed international secretary of the Cominform. This would leave Signor Luigi Longo deputy secretary-general of the Communist Party and the party's operational chief as leader.