Former senior Italian politicians and policemen have gone on trial alongside Mafia godfathers in Sicily, accused of making secret deals with the gangsters in an effort to stop a series of deadly bombings in the early 1990s.
Prosecutors accuse state officials of agreeing to pursue Mafia members less vigorously, and easing conditions for those already in jail, in exchange for an end to attacks.Ten people, including then-interior minister Nicola Mancino and then-Mafia leader Toto Riina, are on trial.Mancino is accused of giving false testimony to prosecutors investigating the case - charges he denies. President Giorgio Napolitano is among the top figures who prosecutors say will be called as witnesses.
