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cells, or brigades. Moro’s murder soured the public on Harclerode, Peter. Secret Soldiers: Special Forces in the
the brigadiers, however, and a reorganized police force War Against Terrorism. London: Cassell, 2000.
finally began to make progress against the group. Kennedy, Frances. “Italy Fears Revival of Red Brigades
During the autumn of 1981–1982, after a number After Government Aide Is Shot Dead.” The Independent
(London), March 21, 2002, 3.
of arrests had hurt the group’s operational capacity,
the executive committee decided to strike back with a
daring series of attacks codenamed “Winter of Fire.”
The first attack, the kidnapping of North Atlantic RED HAND COMMANDOS. See
Treaty Organization commander Brigadier General ULSTER VOLUNTEER FORCE.
James Dozier, was executed successfully. While
Dozier was being held hostage, however, the
Brigades’ other operations were complete disasters, RED HAND DEFENDERS
resulting in dozens of arrests. Some of those arrested
became police informants, eventually providing infor-
mation that led police to Dozier. After 42 days of cap- Relatively little is known about the Red Hand
tivity, Dozier was freed in a commando raid that Defenders (RHD), a Northern Irish terrorist organiza-
helped restore the credibility of the Italian police. tion that has claimed responsibility for a number of
Captured in the Dozier rescue was Antonio attacks on Roman Catholics beginning in 1998.
Savasta, top commander of the Red Brigades in Since the late 1960s, Northern Ireland has seen war
northern Italy. In police custody, Savasta called upon between the province’s Catholics, who want Northern
his comrades to lay down their arms and provided Ireland to become part of the Republic of Ireland, and
more than 200 names to the police. His information the province’s Protestants, who want it to continue as
decimated the Red Brigades. The group made one part of the United Kingdom. Both Protestants and
more high-profile attack, assassinating Leamon Hunt, Catholics field armed paramilitary groups that use
director of a Sinai peacekeeping force, but soon split violence to achieve their ends. In April 1998, the
in two. In 1989, two key remaining Red Brigade lead- governments of Britain and Ireland signed a peace
ers were arrested in Paris. The information they pro- agreement known as the Good Friday Accords; this
vided led to the arrest of scores of other terrorists, agreement lays out a plan to achieve political stability
which seemed to put an end to the organization. in Northern Ireland and includes a provision that
However, Red Brigade splinter groups calling them- persons imprisoned for terrorist activities on behalf of
selves the Nucleus of Revolutionary Proletarian the paramilitary groups would be released on a specific
Initiative and New Red Brigades for the Construction of timetable.
the Combative Communist have claimed responsibility Hard-line factions in both Loyalist organizations
for three more recent attacks: an April 2002 bombing in (representing Protestants; also called Unionists) and
Rome, and the killings of Massimo D’Antona in May Republican organizations (representing Catholics;
1999 and Marco Biagi in March 2002. Both men were also called Nationalists) refused to recognize the
government advisers helping to reform Italy’s labor Good Friday Accords and split from the larger para-
laws, a project that has caused much controversy in militaries, forming their own terrorist groups. When
Italy. The clear links between the two murders—the the RHD emerged in 1998 and first began to claim
same gun was used both times—coupled with the bomb responsibility for bombings and sectarian killings,
attack have raised fears that the Red Brigades may be many observers believed it to be just such a splinter
attempting to revive their organization. group. RHD has claimed responsibility for several
sectarian murders, mortar bomb attacks on Catholic
See also JAMES LEE DOZIER homes, and the attempted bombing of a pub that
served both Catholics and Protestants.
Further Reading The RHD’s most prominent victim was human
rights lawyer Rosemary Nelson, who defended both
Collin, Richard Oliver, and Gordon L. Friedman. Winter of
Fire. New York: Dutton, 1990. Protestants and Catholics and had filed hundreds of
Drake, Richard. The Aldo Moro Murder Case. Cambridge, briefs charging Northern Ireland’s police force, the
MA: Harvard University Press, 1995. Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), with brutality.