%2c_Italy_-_Air_Force_AN1011460.jpg) An Italian Air Force Douglas C-47 similar to the aircraft involved | |
| Date | 23 November 1973 |
|---|---|
| Summary | Not confirmed |
| Site | Marghera,Italy |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Douglas C-47 Dakota |
| Operator | Italian Air Force |
| Registration | MM61832 |
| Flight origin | Lybia |
| Stopover | Malta |
| Passengers | 0 |
| Crew | 4 |
| Fatalities | 4 |
| Survivors | 0 |
Argo 16 was the codename of anItalian Air ForceC-47 Dakota aircraft, registration MM61832, used by 306th Group of theFlight Department of the General Staff (RVSM, then31st Wing) of theItalian Air Force.
On November 23, 1973, Argo 16 crashed near Porto Marghera shortly after taking off fromVenice Airport, killing the crew, Colonel Anano Borreo, Lieutenant Colonel Mario Grande, Engineer Aldo Schiavone and Radio Operator Francesco Bernardini. The plane crashed into a building belonging to the Data Processing Center of theMontedison oil complex, with the wreckage hitting the parking lot, the research center and the administrative offices of Montefibre, but without causing any further casualties.[1]
Shortly after boarding the plane and before taking off,SID lieutenant Giuseppe Cismondi received a radio communication ordering the plane to head toward theNATO base inAviano. Cismondi was then forced to disembark from the plane. Argo 16 then took off for Aviano, but after a few minutes the latter crashed into the Montefibre factory in Porto Marghera.
AdmiralFulvio Martini declared during a hearing at the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry on terrorism in Italy that the code name of the planeArgo 16, was named for the giant mythological all-seeingArgus Panoptes. The aeroplane conducted electronic observation missions in theAdriatic Sea for the Secret Service against theYugoslavianradar network.[2] According to Luigi, Borreo`s father, the commander of the crew of the Argo 16, Anano Borreo, feared for his life: he was aware that his work placed him at the centre of delicate and dangerous situations.
Some journalistic sources claimed that the plane with registration MM61832 was also used by Gladio for the transport of men to the Centro Addestramento Guastatori, a training base located in Capo Marrargiu,Sardinia, and for the transport of NASCO weapons to secret depots of the "gladiators".[3][4]
The plane was also used to accompany a group of Arab terrorists back toTripoli who were blocked on 5 September 1973 while they were preparing to launch a missile from a terrace inOstia at an Israeli airline jet.[5]
The liberation of the Arabs was requested by thePLO headed byYasser Arafat, in exchange for that release the PLO would do its utmost not to carry out any other act of terrorism on Italian soil,[6][7][8] with a temporary commitment made directly with the Foreign Minister in the context of the so-calledpatto Moro orlodo Moro.
According to information given during a hearing filed with theItalian Senate on January 20, 2009, the existence of this pact with its validity of over a decade was confirmed byBassam Abu Sharif, the "historical" leader of thePopular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, by the lawyerGiovanni Pellegrino, by the senatorFrancesco Cossiga and by the judge Rosario Priore (who was the investigator of the proceedings relating to thekidnapping of Aldo Moro).
Although it is a fact that Italian foreign policy under the regency ofAldo Moro at theFarnesina followed a more pro-Arab direction, the timing of the replacement of the "lodo De Gasperi " with the "lodo Moro ",[9] in relations with the world of Middle Eastern intelligence, does not fully match the story of the end of the Argo 16 plane. Since many sources place the commitment undertaken by Moro following theFiumicino massacre (1973),[10] it would not have been possible to react in November to an event that had yet to happen;[11] therefore, other sources maintain that the commitment was decided before,[12][13] and that it was only "stipulated" formally after the 1973 Fiumicino massacre.[12]
In 1999 the Corte d'assise of theVenice Tribunal declared that the cause had to be attributed to an accident, effectively excluding any intervention by theMossad,[14] but other theories on the causes of the accident have also been put forward without however providing concrete and adequate evidence.
During an episode of an Italian television program aired in 1990 and focused on the Argo 16 case, General Geraldo Serravalle, head of Gladio from 1971 to 1974, declared that although there is a widespread opinion that the cause was sabotage by theIsraeli secret services, it was probable that the explosion was caused by the gladiators themselves who refused to hand over their weapons.[15][16] Giovanni Pellegrino, former president of the italian commissione stragi, was of the same opinion and believed that the cause should be sought based on the use made of the plane by Gladio.
In 2000 General Gianadelio Maletti (SID) stated during an interview with a journalist of the italian newspaperla Repubblica that the plane was returning fromLibya after having released five palestinians involved in a failed attack in Ostia and arrested and that an "unfortunate stop" inMalta officially confirmed to the israeli secret services what was happening. He also declared that he had been contacted by Asa Leven the then head of theisraeli secret services station in Rome before that operation and that he was aware of the italian government's intentions he proposed to collaborate to kidnap the five and extradite them toJerusalem but he said "nothing will be done" and "argo 16 crashes".[17]
In March 1997, Italian judge Carlo Mastelloni incriminated 22Italian Air Force officers on charges of suppression, falsification and subtraction of documents concerning state security. In his opinion, in fact, "those who over the years have been involved in the investigation have systematically concealed, falsified or destroyed every element that could lead to the right path".[18] Among those accused of the massacre wereZvi Zamir, former head of the Mossad, and Asa Leven, former head of the Mossad in Italy.[19]
Finally, 9 officers, officials and consultants of theSID andSISMI were sent to trial. The ItalianPublic prosecutor Remo Smitti asked for an eight-year sentence for Maletti, Viezzer and Lehmann, an acquittal for all the others and an acquittal for Zvi Zamir, considered by Mastelloni to be the instigator of the sabotage. The defense lawyers managed to dismantle all the charges and on December 16, 1999 the judges concluded the trial by establishing that the plane crashed due to a failure or pilot error.[20]
45°26′42.5296″N12°14′41.8945″E / 45.445147111°N 12.244970694°E /45.445147111; 12.244970694