THE VENICE SUMMIT : Terrorist Attacks Rock U.S., British Missions in Rome

VENICE, Italy — Terrorists exploded a car bomb near the U.S. Embassy in Rome and fired rockets into the American and British embassy compounds Tuesday, apparently to protest the economic summit conference here.

The attacks, which occurred within a 40-minute span in an area of Rome dubbed the “Triangle of Death” because of its history of terrorist attacks, came as the leaders of the seven major industrialized democracies agreed at their summit here to extend their cooperation against terrorism and to “make no concessions to terrorists or their sponsors.”

The 7:45 a.m. car blast, apparently caused by a bomb containing more than four pounds of explosives, panicked some passers-by in the streets around the U.S. Embassy and shattered windows at the nearby Hotel Excelsior, where guests were showered with glass while eating breakfast.

Launched From Hotel

Rome police said two primitive, rocket-propelled bombs were then launched at the U.S. Embassy from the balcony of a fifth-floor room at the Hotel Ambasciatori, a luxury hotel that frequently houses American delegations. One rocket slightly damaged a wall, broke windows and gouged a hole two feet wide in the sidewalk. The other landed in the embassy garden and failed to explode.

At the British Embassy, half a mile away from the American compound, a similar rocket-launched device landed in an ornamental pool in the garden and exploded. It caused no damage. A crude rocket launcher was found outside the British compound.

The only casualty reported in any of the incidents was a 48-year-old Italian woman on a passing bus, who went into shock and was hospitalized.

Not long afterward, the Associated Press in London received a telephone call, apparently from the Continent, and a man speaking accented English said the bombs were the work of a group called the Anti-Imperialist International Brigade.

‘Imperialist Interests’

The caller said: “We claim the full responsibility of the series of attacks against the American and British and other imperialist interests in Rome today. This direct answer to the state terrorism of international imperialism made by the U.S.A. proves that the revolutionary will is stronger than the high security measures taken for the protection of the so-called seven giants of the world.”

He apparently referred to security measures taken at the summit conference in Venice. He said the group will carry out more attacks against the “wanted terrorists of the Western countries and in particular the protectors of (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) bases in Europe.”

When asked where he was calling from, the man terminated the call.

Italian police said they were searching for an Asian man, age 33 to 40, with a Canadian passport, who occupied the room at the Ambasciatori from which the rockets were launched. Police found a homemade rocket launcher in his room.

Officers said the man checked into the hotel last Saturday, the same day a man of the same description rented from a Rome agency the Ford Escort that blew up near the embassy.

More Noise Than Harm

According to the Associated Press, Col. Roberto Conforti, a senior paramilitary police official, said the explosives used in Tuesday’s attacks were similar to those involved in attacks against the U.S. embassies in Madrid last Feb. 18 and in Lisbon, in February, 1986.

Although the bombs caused more noise than damage, they were enough to cause jitters here in Venice, 250 miles from Rome. Shuttle boats were delayed and reporters arriving on the island of San Giorgio Maggiore, where the leaders are meeting, were subjected to close inspection.

Two hours before the Rome attacks, frogmen in Venice recovered and blew up what was first thought to be a mine in the Venice lagoon. Officials later reported that it was harmless, mostly likely part of an old water heater or an abandoned buoy.

The statement on terrorism issued by the conferees enlarges on similar statements issued at earlier such conferences--in Bonn in 1978, Venice in 1980, Ottawa in 1981, London in 1984 and Tokyo last year. It endorses “national measures and international cooperation” that were agreed to at a special meeting of justice and security ministers three weeks ago in Paris. These measures involve increased exchanges of the countries’ computerized police records on terrorists.

Extradition Measures

The statement also appeals “to all like-minded countries to consolidate and extend international cooperation in all appropriate forums”--an invitation to share in the exchange of computerized anti-terrorist information.

It also enlarges on an agreement reached in Bonn, in 1978, to cut off air traffic with countries that refuse to extradite or prosecute hijackers of aircraft. The seven governments have now agreed that they will take similar action against countries failing to prosecute or otherwise take action against anyone who threatens the safety of aircraft.

“Each of us,” it said, “will continue to monitor closely the activities of airlines which raise security problems and have decided on measures to make more effective dealing with all forms of terrorism affecting civil aviation.”