Historical Dictionary of Terrorism Third Edition

48 • ARMED REVOLUTIONARY NUCLEIARMED REVOLUTIONARY NUCLEI (NAR). The Nuclei ArmatiRivoluzionari was an Italian right-wing revolutionary terrorist groupseeking to overthrow the current constitutional democracy in Italy toreplace it with a Fascist-style authoritarian regime. This group appearedin December 1977 when it bombed the Rome offices of theChristian Democratic and Communist parties. In June 1980 the NARassassinated Roman judge Mario Amato, who had been instrumentalin uncovering and convicting rightist groups violating Italy’s ban onneo-Fascist groups, in particular the NAR. In the period from 1977 to1981, the group perpetrated at least 25 terrorist acts, and Italian policeimplicated it in the 2 August 1980 bombing of the Bologna train station.On 2 May 1985 some 53 members of the NAR were sentenced toprison for their role in the terror campaign of 1977–1981.In 1993 the NAR and other similar subversive right-wing groupswere officially banned under the Mancino Law. In 1997 MassimoMorsello, the former NAR leader, joined together with RobertoFiore, the former leader of the radical nationalist Terza Posizione(Third Position) group to create a new neo-Nazi organization, ForzaNuova (New Force), to embrace all the radical right to the right ofthe National Alliance, the extreme right-wing party that escaped theMancino ban.ARMENIAN LIBERATION ARMY (ALA). The ALA was a nonstateArmenian guerrilla group with the revolutionary goal of restoringformerly Armenian portions of eastern Turkey to Armeniansovereignty. While this group bombed Turkish targets in WesternEurope in the 1970s, it has since sunk into obscurity.ARMENIAN SECRET ARMY FOR THE LIBERATION OFARMENIA (ASALA). ASALA was a formerly Soviet-sponsored,revolutionary organization with the triple aims of regaining portionsof eastern Turkey claimed as parts of historic Armenia, avenging theArmenians killed by the Ottoman forces during World War I, andforcing the Turkish government to acknowledge responsibility forthe events of 1915. ASALA was a Marxist-Leninist organization thatalso declared its opposition to imperialism. It is suspected that theSoviet Union sponsored ASALA as a means of pressuring Turkey toplay a less accommodating role within the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.ASALA also received aid from radical Palestinian groupswith which it collaborated in Lebanon. Interestingly ASALA, an