Man confesses to Italy school bomb

A 68-year-old man has reportedly confessed to the Italian police about his involvement in the 19 May Brindisi bombing which killed a young woman and shocked Italy.

The Italian news agency Ansa said the suspect was a 68-year-old petrol pump attendant who may have a grudge against the principal of the school in the south-eastern city of Brindisi.

A remote-controlled bomb at the school gates went off as students arrived.

Melissa Bassi was killed and five others were wounded in the blast.

After initially suggesting there may be a link to the mafia, police later said the perpetrator was likely to be a lone attacker.

According to reports, the principal used to teach in the town the suspect comes from - Lecce, 30 minutes drive to the south.

Police said they had interviewed 1,400 people and carried out 32 searches during the investigation.

The bombing deeply shocked Italy, recalling the terrorist attacks of the 1970s and raising fears of a mafia attack as the school is named after famed anti-mafia judge Giovanni Falcone and his wife Francesca Morvillo, both killed in a 1992 attack.

But national police chief Antonio Manganelli said Wednesday that the attack had "nothing to do with the mafia, nor with anarchists".