Prodi hung in effigy over rubbish crisis

NAPLES, Italy, Jan. 5 (UPI) -- Residents of Naples, Italy, awoke to smoldering refuse and tailor's dummies depicting Prime Minister Romano Prodi hung in effigy.

Protesters torched city buses and strung dummies of Italian government officials across streets with placards reading "Good riddance to this rubbish" as refuse sites overflow.

The garbage crisis centers on protests over new refuse facilities and Mafia control of the illegal dumping of toxic waste, the Independent reported Saturday.

''In this carefully orchestrated chaos the Mafia always comes out on top,'' said Italy's Environment Minister Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio told the Italian news agency ANSA.

Citizens expressed concern over the environmental hazard posed by the overflowing refuse and the fires that could release harmful dioxins into the atmosphere.

The Independent said the European Union is considering imposing sanctions on Italy to resolve the health and environmental crisis.