NEGOTIATIONS WITH MAFIA BOSSES

Early last week some newspapers wrote of authorities wanting to negotiate with bosses to get them to cooperate in fighting the Mafia.

Piero Grasso, Palermo's chief prosecutor, warned authorities against state negotiations with Cosa Nostra and said that prosecutors in his office were ready to resign should such settlements take place.

However, in an interview to the daily La Repubblica Grasso stated that he had been reassured in this respect by Italy's national anti-Mafia prosecutor, Pierluigi Vigna who said that his encounters with Mafia Bosses should not be intended as negotiations.

In the interview Mr. Grasso said that the state cannot negotiate with the Mafia and that " negotiating would mean acknowledging the Mafia as a political force".

The prosecutor then warned against granting bosses reductions in their terms of imprisonment.