Italy may pursue charge that East bloc arms rebels

January 28, 1981

Italian politicians reacted quickly to a Moscow protest at suggestions by President Sandro Pertini that the Soviet Union had links with Italian urban guerrillas. Socialist leader Bettino Craxi, whose party is also part of the ruling coalition, said that Mr. Pertini's opinion was shared by other Western leaders and that the problem must be investigated without hesitation.

The Socialist deputy referred to Soviet-and Czechoslovak-made arms found on Italian guerrillas and said there was no doubt that Eastern Europe had supplied them, even if indirectly through Palestinian guerrillas.