Italy: 'Puppeteer' former Masonic lodge head Licio Gelli dies, 96

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Italy: 'Puppeteer' former Masonic lodge head Licio Gelli dies, 96



AREZZO: -- Liccio Gelli, the former head of Italy’s outlawed P2 Masonic lodge, has died, at the age of 96.

Nicknamed ‘The Puppeteer’, he has been linked to some of Italy’s shadiest incidents in modern times.

During his time as head of the secretive P2, he was believed to have held a powerful influence over a network of officials within the government, the intelligence services, the military, the financial sector and the media.

All are thought to have been involved in covert anti-Communist and anti-democratic operations.

Over the years, the former financier was convicted on a number of counts of conspiracy and tax fraud.

He was linked to cases such as the Banco Ambrosiano bankruptcy, the deadly 1985 Bologna train station
bombing and the 1978 murder of former Italian prime minister Aldo Moro.

The P2 was outlawed upon discovery in 1981.

Gelli died at home in Arezzo, central Italy.


-- (c) Copyright Euronews 2015-12-17

[Nobb]

RIP my brother Mason! Prayers for you and your family!

[Vagabond1]

"He joined the freemasons in the 1960s and founded the P2 lodge in 1970. A list of alleged members was later discovered by Italian police - and included one Silvio Berlusconi, the future prime minister."

"At a news conference in 1999, Gelli said: "I am a fascist and will die a fascist.""

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35115576