Italy coalition divided over immigration crackdown

ROME - Cracks in Italy's centre-left coalition widened on Monday over emergency legislation giving police greater powers to expel European Union immigrants.

The measures, prompted by public anger at a series of crimes blamed on poor Romanian immigrants, have sparked diplomatic tensions with Bucharest and are the latest test of unity for Prime Minister Romano Prodi's patchwork alliance.

Left-wing coalition parties believe the emergency decree is racist and may run counter to Italy's constitution.

Cesare Salvi, a leading member of the Democratic Left, accused Prodi of adopting the populist agenda of Silvio Berlusconi's opposition. Salvi said he hoped the measures would be diluted in the Senate, where the government has only a razor-thin majority.

The decree allows local authorities to expel European Union citizens they consider to be dangerous.

A judge must sign the expulsion order but no proof of a criminal record is necessary and neither is a trial.

Romanian President Traian Basescu has criticised the measures and the official newspaper of Italy's Communist Refoundation, one of nine parties which prop up Prodi's administration, called them "disgusting and Fascist."

"Improvised measures that induce fear and awaken hatred can be unjust and can have other effects than those hoped," Basescu said on Sunday.

Italian authorities on Saturday tore down a gypsy camp and expelled around 20 Romanians under the new powers.

PRIME MINISTERS TO MEET

Prodi told reporters on Monday he would meet Romanian Prime Minister Calin Tariceanu in Rome in a few days.

"There is no diplomatic friction ...we have to resolve the problems with cooperation among our two countries, but we have to resolve them," he said.

Opposition lawmakers, keen to exploit government divisions, have hinted they will support the decree if it is made even tougher and as long as there are guarantees the expulsion orders are actually carried out.

Prodi's government could be at risk if the measures are passed thanks to the opposition's support.

Berlusconi called a meeting of centre-right parties on Monday to ensure they present a united front in parliament.

The crackdown comes at a time of rising tensions between Italians and Romanian immigrants who have the same right as other EU citizens to travel freely across borders after Romania joined the EU this year.

Last week masked assailants brandishing knives and clubs stabbed and beat four Romanians outside a Rome supermarket. The attack followed the arrest of a Romanian suspected of murdering an Italian naval officer's wife outside a Rome train station.