Fears of Mafia power struggle

THE arrest of Mafia boss Bernardo Provenzano has raised fears about the stability of Sicily's Cosa Nostra, amid fears that the succession in organised crime circles could lead to a return of bloody clan feuding.

The two men tipped as his successor are Matteo "Diabolik" Messina Denaro, 43, from western Sicily and Salvatore Lo Piccolo, 63, from Palermo.

Both men are on the run, accused of Mafia crimes and murder, but their management styles are different. Denaro is a playboy and allegedly the more trigger-happy of the two. Lo Piccolo is said, like Provenzano in later years, to prefer a strategy of peace between clans as the best way to improve profits.

Denaro is viewed by the US FBI as one of the biggest drug dealers in the world and is said to have contacts with Colombian cocaine barons.

The last known picture of Denaro, who gets his nickname Diabolik from a cartoon character, was taken 10 years ago.

He was born near Trapani in western Sicily, where his father Francesco was the Mafia boss. He is said to have learned how to use a gun at 14.

He has reportedly killed at least 50 people and is believed to be behind Mafia bombings in 1993 in Rome, Florence and Milan in which 10 people died. After the bombings he went into hiding and has not been seen since.