ROME - Interior Minister, Marco Miniti, vows to stop Mafia tensions in Ostia escalating into a full blown war in a statement made Monday, “what is happening in Ostia is not tolerable in a democracy.”

 Recent episodes have led authorities to believe that a rival gang is moving into Spada territory. Two masked men “kneecapped” the owner and another worker at a Ostia Pizzeria Thursday. Accounts from the scene tell of how two men came into the Pizzeria and beat the workers on the legs before escaping into the night on a scooter.

 More troubling than this, two bullet holes have been found in Silvano Spada’s front door that are believed to have been made on Sunday. Silvano, cousin of Roberto Spada who made international news when he headbutted a RAI journalist on camera.

 "There is no doubt," says Angelo Bonelli, president of the Green Party, "there is a war between the Sword and the Fascist clan." Which is a surprising statement given that Spada has historical ties with fascist organizations. It is more widely feared that there is a battle for the control of protection rackets between Spada and a rival organization.

 The Roman anti-mafia organisation have opened an investigation into the recent incidents in an effort to quell violent retaliation before it takes place.

 “The theme of Ostia's liberation from the mafia will be indispensable, there we play a piece of the sovereignty of our country,” said Miniti, “in the most difficult challenges we will see the strength of the state, we will be hard and uncompromising”

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