US military base expansion splits Italian city

VICENZA, Italy, Jan 17 (Reuters) Expansion of a US military base in Italy has split the prosperous city of Vicenza, with fears about terrorist attacks to traffic jams countering worries about the loss of jobs and American dollars.

Hundreds of demonstrators, many of them base workers, held a demonstration in Rome in favour of the expansion today, an event that had been scheduled to coincide with an end-week deadline for a decision but was overtaken by events.

Prime Minister Romano Prodi made a surprise announcement yesterday that Italy would not object to U.S. plans to expand the base at Vicenza, about 400 km north of Rome, despite divisions over the base in his centre-right coalition.

The Pentagon wants to double the size of the base, the home of the US Southern European Task Force, to unite its 173rd Airborne Brigade. The rapid reaction unit is divided between Vicenza and bases at Bamburg and Schweinfurt, Germany.

Anti-base protesters angered by Prodi's decision took over Vicenza's train station late on Tuesday, blocking rail traffic.

''Prime Minister Prodi has given us an answer that definitely is not one we like,'' Anna Paggi, a demonstration organiser who backs a local referendum on the issue, told Reuters.

The raging debate and repeated protests among Vicenza's 115,000 residents is a rare sign of turmoil in a town where local pride centres on a can-do approach to business.

Just hours before Prodi's announcement, Mayor Enrico Hullweck said the base expansion roiling the city had been blown up into a national issue by politicians in Rome.

''The city shouldn't be scared of bombs and airplanes. This is only a question about traffic,'' he told Reuters.

VICENZA SPLIT Vicenza's city council has only narrowly backed the expansion and an October poll showed 62 per cent of Vicenza residents opposed the move.

Washington wants to expand its 2,750 military personnel to 4,500.

The new barracks would be on the other side of Vicenza from the current one. That has raised worries about new roads to handle military traffic linking the two parts, loss of green space and strains on public services like water and gas.

Opponents argue the bulked-up base could militarise the city and make it a target for terrorists.

They also say it is too close to the historic city centre and buildings designed by Renaissance architect Palladio that have made Vicenza a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Supporters have contended that US closure of the base would threaten its roughly 800 jobs. It also would be another blow to a local economy based on textiles, clothing and small industries reeling from the impact of globalisation.

The US Army said in a briefing document that the base pumped about 230 million dollars into the local economy in 2005.

Massimo Carlearo, local head of the Confindustria business association, hoped a base deal would prompt the United States to trim customs duties on gold jewellery, a major Vicenza export.

''I think I speak for all Vicenza businessmen, who are all in favour of the base,'' he said.

Reuters AB DB2147