Editing Francesco Cossiga (section)

===Bologna massacre===
{{main|Bologna massacre}}
Cossiga was head of the government during the [[Bologna massacre]], a [[terrorism|terrorist]] bombing of the [[Bologna Central Station]] on the morning of 2 August 1980, which killed 85 people and wounded more than 200. The attack was attributed to the [[neo-fascism|neo-fascist]] terrorist organization ''[[Nuclei Armati Rivoluzionari]]'' (Armed Revolutionary Nucleus), which always denied any involvement; other theories have been proposed, especially in correlation with the [[strategy of tension]].<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9pywmKG0sk Carlo Lucarelli, ''Blu notte La strage di Bologna''] {{in lang|it}}.</ref>

Francesco Cossiga first assumed the explosion to have been caused by an accident (the explosion of an old [[boiler]] located in the basement of the station). Nevertheless, soon the evidence gathered on site of the explosion made it clear that the attack constituted an act of [[terrorism]]. ''[[L'Unità]]'', the newspaper of the Communist Party on 3 August already attributed responsibility for the attack to neo-fascists. Later, in a special session to the Senate, Cossiga supported the theory that [[neofascist]]s were behind the attack, "unlike leftist terrorism, which strikes at the heart of the state through its representatives, black terrorism prefers the massacre because it promotes panic and impulsive reactions."<ref>{{cite news|title=Police search starts for Bologna bombers |newspaper=The Globe and Mail|date=5 August 1980}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Neo-Fascists 'Prefer Massacre'|agency= Reuters|date=6 August 1980}}</ref>

[[File:Stragedibologna-2.jpg|thumb|left|220px|Rescue teams making their way through the rubble after the [[Bologna massacre|attack]].]]
Later, according to media reports in 2004, taken up again in 2007,<ref>[http://www.ilgiornale.it/a.pic1?ID=214956 "Il giallo della strage di Bologna. Ecco le prove della pista araba"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090207200053/http://www.ilgiornale.it/a.pic1?ID=214956 |date=7 February 2009 }}, ''[[il Giornale]]'', 22 October 2007 {{in lang|it}}.</ref> Cossiga, in a letter addressed to Enzo Fragala, leader of the [[National Alliance (Italy)|National Alliance]] section in the [[Mitrokhin Commission|Mitrokhin Committee]], suggested Palestinian involvement of [[George Habash]]'s [[Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine]] and the Separate group of [[Ilich Ramirez Sanchez]], known as "Carlos the Jackal".<ref>[http://www.capperi.net/stragebo.html "Strage Bologna: Cossiga, forse atto del terrorismo arabo"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090807121524/http://www.capperi.net/stragebo.html |date=7 August 2009 }}</ref> In addition, in 2008 Cossiga gave an interview to ''[[BBC]]'' in which it reaffirmed his belief that the massacre would not be attributable to black terrorism, but to an "incident" of Palestinian resistance groups operating in Italy. He declared also being convinced of the innocence of [[Francesca Mambro]] and [[Giuseppe Valerio Fioravanti]], the two neo-fascist terrorists accused of the massacre.<ref>[http://www.corriere.it/politica/08_luglio_08/cossiga_cazzullo_f6395d90-4cb1-11dd-b408-00144f02aabc.shtml "La strage di Bologna, fu un incidente della resistenza palestinese"], ''[[Corriere della Sera]]'', 8 July 2008 {{in lang|it}}.</ref><ref>[http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1222017478856&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter "Our World: The convenient war against the Jews"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110512065926/http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1222017478856&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter |date=12 May 2011 }}, ''[[Jerusalem Post]]'', 6 October 2008.</ref> The PFLP has always denied responsibility.<ref>[http://www.pflp.ps/english/?q=former-italian-prime-minister-fabricates-lies-agai Former Italian Prime Minister fabricates lies again] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090508043004/http://www.pflp.ps/english/?q=former-italian-prime-minister-fabricates-lies-agai |date=8 May 2009 }}, ''[[Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine]]''</ref>