Mobster’s body exhumed as part of Vatican kidnap probeMay 14, 2012 - 19:21 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - The body of a mobster has been exhumed in Rome as part of an investigation into the mystery disappearance of the teenage daughter of a Vatican worker almost 30 years ago, Belfast Telegraph reported. Emanuela Orlandi was 15 when she vanished in 1983 after leaving her family's Vatican City apartment to go to a music lesson in Rome. Her father was a lay employee of the Holy See. There had initially been speculation that her kidnapping was linked in some way to the assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II, which had occurred two years earlier, and the jailing of the gunman, Ali Agca. The exhumation of Enrico De Pedis, a member of Rome's Magliana mob killed in 1990, came after his former girlfriend said he kidnapped Emanuela, and an anonymous caller in 2005 told a television show that the answer to her disappearance lay in his tomb. Amid a new push to resolve the case, the Vatican said last month it had no objections to opening the tomb. Some doubt if the Vatican had co-operated fully with the investigation. In a lengthy statement last month, the Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi insisted the Holy See had done everything possible to try to resolve the case. Outside the basilica, Emanuela's brother Pietro Orlandi said the move to exhume the tomb was a step forward in the investigation. "I think it's something very positive, both from the point of view of the Vatican and the prosecutors," he said. Questions have been asked over the location of De Pedis' tomb, in a prominent church alongside prominent Catholics - an unusual final resting place for a local mobster. Sant'Apollinare church is next to the elegant Piazza Navona in Rome's historic centre and is adjacent to the Opus Dei-run Pontifical Holy Cross University. Top stories Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Moscow on April 22 to hold talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". Partner news | Putin congratulates Pashinyan’s birthday Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on his birthday on June 1. Opposition motorcade en route to Gyumri for large rally A motorcade of protesters headed by Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan is heading to the city of Gyumri. Ruling MPs, Foreign Minister talk Armenia-Azerbaijan processes MOs from the ruling Civil Contract party met with the Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan in the Armenian parliament. Russia: Armenia’s frozen membership weakens CSTO position in Caucasus A Russian envoy said any step that could alienate the CSTO member states from each other is “deeply wrong”. |