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Mobsters ditch car near anti-mafia summit

Italian President Giorgio Napolitano visits the Museum of Jewish Art and Italian synagogue in Jerusalem, Israel on November 26, 2008. (UPI Photo/David Blumenfeld/POOL)
Italian President Giorgio Napolitano visits the Museum of Jewish Art and Italian synagogue in Jerusalem, Israel on November 26, 2008. (UPI Photo/David Blumenfeld/POOL) | License Photo

REGGIO CALABRIA, Italy, Jan. 22 (UPI) -- Police in Italy say they have arrested a man linked to a car packed with explosives found near the site of an anti-mafia summit meeting.

The discovery of the vehicle near a Calabrian airport follows a bomb attack earlier this month on the town of Reggio Calabria's main courthouse, Italy's ANSA news agency reported Friday.

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A government spokesman said the car contained primed bombs, a liter of diesel fuel, two handguns, two rifles, three ski masks and rubber gloves.

They suspect the vehicle was abandoned because the area was being searched in advance of an anti-organized crime meeting attended by President Giorgio Napolitano.

Police say the man they arrested has links to the 'Ndrangheta mafia, considered Italy's strongest.

The government has cracked down on 'Ndrangheta since the assassination of a leading regional official in 2005.

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