Procedures EU-instellingen herzien na golf van bombrieven (en)

A task force led by Italy and composed of various EU experts will investigate the series of letter bombs which have targeted senior EU figures.

The task force will spend two months gathering data on the phenomenon of "anarchist insurrection" across the EU and collect useful information for the investigations.

An Italian anarchist group is being treated as the likely source of the bombing wave.

A group calling itself the Informal Anarchic Federation first took credit for setting two time bombs that exploded outside Mr Prodi's house on 21 December, causing a small fire.

The annoucement that the task force was being established follows an apparent intensification yesterday (5 January) of the bombing campaign.

Letter bombs were received in the offices of three MEPs, two in Brussels and one in Manchester but no-one was hurt in any of the incidents.

The packages were all sent from Bologna in Italy and are believed to be linked to similar letter bombs that were sent to other EU figures in December, including the President of the Commission, Romano Prodi and the President of the European Central Bank, Jean-Claude Trichet.

Pat Cox, the President of the European Parliament strongly condemned the bomb attacks yesterday which he said amounted to "a criminal conspiracy against democracy".

He continued, "This is a matter of very considerable concern. We are asking MEPs, together with their families and staff, to be alert in their homes, their offices in the European Parliament and in their constituencies."

Mr Cox added that the European Parliament will intensify the measures which have already been taken to put in place appropriate security and scanning procedures.

"We are offering our full co-operation to the police and security authorities and we will insist that this be acted on with speed and determination", he said.