McDonald's targeted in two bomb plots
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-05-21 09:50

McDonald's was targeted in bomb plots Thursday in Turkey and Italy, with a small bomb damaging cars in a parking lot in Istanbul and firefighters defusing two explosives outside an outlet in Rome.

In Istanbul, police said they received a warning call minutes before the blast. One car was destroyed and several others were damaged, but there were no injuries, official said.

Damaged cars are seen near a McDonalds restaurant after a suspected bomb blast rocked the restaurant in the Acibadem district on Istanbul's Asian side, causing material damage but no casualties, according to officials. [AFP]

Leftist groups in Turkey have targeted McDonald's restaurants in the past.

The bombs in Rome were hidden in suitcases along with a banner carrying a five-pointed red star — a trademark signature of the radical leftist Red Brigades group, police said. No one was hurt.

Leonardo Alestra of the Rome police said the bombs were made from explosive powder and cans containing petrol and were unlikely to have caused serious damage.

He said there has been no claim of responsibility.

Inside one of the suitcases was a banner that carried the star sign and read "Sabotage against Imperialism and War."

The Red Brigades plagued Italy in the 1970s and 1980s, carrying out a series of high-profile attacks.

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