But this is reality. At least, that's what Italian journalist Attilio Bolzoni says, who in the July 7th edition of the French news magazine L'Express talked about the research he has done in connection with the anti-Mafia judges, Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borselino, who were killed in 1992-93.

What Bolzoni - who has been researching organised crime for thirty years - claims is that it was in the interest of the top leaders of the Christian Democrats, the quasi state party which was falling apart as a result of numerous corruption cases, to liquidate those working for the administration of justice.

These murders came in handy for Silvio Berlusconi too, who had political ambitions and founded his own party at the beginning of 1994. According to Bolzoni, Berlusconi has ties with the underworld. The journalist of La Repubblica claims that the Italian secret service helped the Mafia to do its dirty work, and the orders most certainly came from above.

The serious allegations of the La Repubblica journalist are based on the confessions of Mafiosi who have "converted" and on facts that have only recently come to light. Bolzoni also refers to statements made recently by the national anti-Mafia prosecutor, Piero Grasso. According to him, "the Cosa Nostra weren't the only ones who had an interest in killing Giovanni Falcone", and "the attempts in 1993 opened the way to a new political formation."  This is quite a strong hint at the Forza Italia.

Toto Riina, the Maffioso who was convicted of the murders, recently implied that the Cosa Nostra merely executed the bomb attacks, and we must look elsewhere for those who commissioned them.

A pentito (a converted criminal), Gaspare Spatuzza, recently related that when he and a fellow-member of the Mafia were filling the Fiat that was to kill judge Borselino with explosives, an employee of the Italian secret service was also present.

The officer was identified - on the basis of a photo - not only by him, but also by Massimo Ciancimino, whose now deceased father was the mayor of Palermo who had been convicted for having been involved with the Mafia. What's more, Ciancimino was in touch with another secret service employee for decades, and this person managed to obtain false passports for his Mafia connections.

And where does politics come into the picture? According to Bolzoni, the link between Berlusconi and the underworld was Marcello Dell'Utri, who was sentenced in June to seven years imprisonment for connections with the Mafia. Dell'Utri was one of Berlusconi's closest colleagues, and an important background figure in his companies. He was also one of the founders of Forza Italia. He later became senator and a member of the European Parliament.

According to Bolzoni's theory, there was virtually a war going on within the state machinery because of the judges.

During the (unsuccessful) attempt against Falcone in 1989, two policemen protected him, and it was secret police who tried to kill him. The two policemen later died under mysterious circumstances.

Despite these bombastic claims, the question remains whether these mosaic pieces really do add up to make a whole, and whether the judges had to die because of a conspiracy at the highest level. If the answer is yes, then Silvio Berlusconi, who is regularly attacked because of his former business affairs, has some difficult moments in store.