Transport Minister Maurizio Lupi
said Friday that protests against the TAV high-speed rail line
were being used to "attack the State" after trouble overnight at
a work site in the Susa valley near Turin.
"We are faced with criminal events by people, some from
abroad, who want to use the work to attack the State," Lupi said
"They will not be allowed space".
Police responded with tear gas after protesters threw
firecrackers at a site at Chiomonte. One police officer was
burned.
Around 30 protestors against the Turin-Lyon link also
temporarily blocked off a motorway that leads to France, setting
tyres alight.
More protests are planned for Saturday.
No-TAV protests, which have sometimes turned violent, have
built up steam in recent years and been taken up by leftist and
anti-capitalist groups despite government efforts to persuade
opponents that it is an essential piece of infrastructure,
especially when Italy's economy has been suffering its longest
postwar recession.
The Italian and French governments have insisted that the
link will not only speed passenger and freight traffic but also
boost both countries' economies.
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