Italian mafia responsible for assassination

Italy's Interior Minister says the 'Ndrangheta mafia group was responsible for Sunday's assassination of a senior centre-left politician as he left a polling booth.

Interior Minister Giuseppe Pisanu flew to the southern region of Calabria after two masked gunmen shot Francesco Fortugno, vice-president of Calabria's regional government, shortly after he had voted in a national primary ballot to choose a leader for the centre-left opposition.

The killing triggered fears of a rise in Calabrian mafia activity. Fortugno, 54, was the most senior public figure killed in the region since 1989.