Italy: Protection urged for journalist after suspected radical Muslim gunman targets his car

Potenza, 7 Jan. (AKI) – A director of Italian public broadcaster RAI has urged the government to protect to one of its journalists after a suspected radical Muslim opened fire on his car in southern Italy. Nello Rega was uninjured in the attack as he drove home late on Thursday. Rega wrote a book on Islam’s uneasy relationship Christianity and has received several threats from alleged Muslim extremists over the past two years. “Last night’s attack should leave people in no doubt. Rega could have been killed. Why is he not adequately protected?” said Antonio Bagnardi, director of RAI Televideo, where Bagnardi works.

“Isn’t it enough that he has beeen intimidated for months on end and now is a victim of attempted murder,” Bagnardi added, calling on Italy’s interior minister Roberto Maroni to intervene.

A single shot was fired at Rega’s car from a vehicle that drew up alongside as he drove along a state highway near the city of Potenza in Italy’s Basilicata region, damaging Rega’s rear window. He reported the attack to police, who were examining his car as part of their investigation.

Since his book ‘Different and Divided – a Diary of Coexistence with Islam’ Rega has received threats in the Italian capital, Rome, and in Potenza including an envelope mailed to him with bullets inside.

Bagnardi urged media not to under-report or ignore such incidents.