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Saturday, 12 January 2008, 15:14 GMT

Arrests in Sardinia waste clashes

Some trucks board a ship in Naples heading to an unknown rubbish dump in Sardinia. Six protesters have been arrested in Sardinia after clashes with Italian police over tonnes of rubbish shipped to the island from Naples.

About 1,000 protesters in Sardinia's capital, Cagliari, burned rubbish containers and threw stones at the police injuring eight on Friday night.

Sardinia was the first area in Italy to offer to take on some of the 100,000 tonnes of waste festering in Naples.

Protesters dumped rubbish bags outside the villa of the regional governor.

Ignoring complaints from opposition politicians, Renatu Soru, said the rest of Italy had a duty to show solidarity with Naples.

Mafia link

Refuse collection in Naples ground to a halt before Christmas after dumps in the area were declared full.

Local groups have cited health concerns in their campaign to block the reopening of old sites, and the building of new ones, around Naples.

The campaign has often led to violent confrontations between police and protesters attempting to prevent the reopening of a dump in Pianura, on the outskirts of Naples.

These clashes have prompted Italy's interior ministry to warn rapid-response police patrols would be called in to quell any further violence from what they call "hooligan gangs".

Prime Minister Romano Prodi has given former national police chief Gianni De Gennaro four months to sort out the crisis.

Critics argue the Campania region's waste problem stems from decades of corruption and political weakness, with the local government unable to end the Neapolitan Mafia's control of the waste disposal industry.



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Related to this story:
'Trash tsar' to clear Naples dirt (08 Jan 08 |  Europe )
Q&A: Can the EU clean up Naples? (08 Jan 08 |  Europe )
Life amid the waste piles of Naples (07 Jan 08 |  Europe )
Soldiers bulldoze Naples rubbish (07 Jan 08 |  Europe )
Rubbish torched in Naples crisis (02 Jan 08 |  Europe )
US warns tourists of Naples waste (10 Jul 07 |  Europe )
Italian city faces rubbish crisis (23 May 07 |  Europe )
Naples schools close in 'rubbish' crisis (18 Mar 04 |  Europe )

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