Italian Prison Aide Reportedly Admits Faking Ambush

ROME — A prison official confessed Friday that he staged an ambush on himself--an attack he first blamed on Red Brigades terrorists--to try to win a job transfer, the Italian news agency AGI reported.

Egidio de Luca, assistant director of Rome’s Rebibbia prison, had said earlier this week that terrorists forced him to stop his car as he was driving home Tuesday, and shot him in the thigh.

De Luca had said that the attackers belonged to the New Red Brigades terrorist group and that his bodyguard, Carmine Panicciari, had chased and shot at them.

Authorities arrested De Luca and Panicciari on Thursday and charged them with planning the shooting. Italian media reported investigators had discovered a notebook in De Luca’s briefcase indicating he had planned the attack on himself.

Authorities believe De Luca had asked Panicciari or an unidentified accomplice to shoot him in the leg, the reports said.

The reports said the prison official was depressed about his job and had been pressing his superiors for a transfer from the prison.