The Red Brigade has said it kidnapped former Italian premier Aldo Moro

England have

Former Italian prime minister Aldo Moro has been kidnapped in Rome.

Mr Moro's escort of five police bodyguards were killed when he was snatched at gunpoint from a car near a cafe in the morning rush-hour.

Chief police investigator Signor Moro said 12 gunmen took part in the attack on the former prime minister as he was being driven to parliament.

Police have set up dozens of roadblocks and all exits from the city are being watched. Helicopters are hovering overhead and anti-terrorist officers have been sent to the airport.

The extreme left-wing Red Brigade, in a telephone call to a Rome newspaper, has said it kidnapped the Christian Democratic leader, 61.

A spokesman said: "We kidnapped Aldo Moro. He is only our first victim. We shall hit at the heart of the state."

The man demanded that the Turin trial of Renato Curcio, who is suspected of leading the Red Brigade, and 14 others accused of membership of the group should be suspended.

Witnesses reported seeing a white Fiat car move in front of Mr Moro's vehicle, along with a man on a motorbike. The Fiat braked hard and Mr Moro's car crashed into it.

Gunmen jumped out of the Fiat and others who had been waiting nearby raised pistols and sub-machine guns.

Trade unions have called a 24-hour general strike and workers have left many shops and offices in the city in a shocked reaction to the kidnapping of the much-respected statesman.

Investigators are examining spent bullet cases at the scene of the crime and among guns seized they found "a rarely used Soviet weapon".

Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti has condemned those who took Mr Moro, saying they were "destroying the fabric of the nation and threatening to make it ungovernable".

Marshal Tito looks on as the Duke of Edinburgh shakes hands with Mr Churchill

The Duke of Edinburgh, Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden greeted him at Westminster at the start of his five-day visit.

He arrived by sea from Yugoslavia in the naval vessel Galeb (Seagull). He was then brought up river under Royal Navy escort.

Marshal Tito was invited to Britain last September by Mr Eden who was visiting Yugoslavia to strengthen ties between the two nations.

Talks this week are expected to centre on the aftermath of the recent death of Josef Stalin, who expelled Yugoslavia from the Cominform group of communist nations in 1948 for failing to adhere to Soviet policies.

Since that time Yugoslavia has come to rely on Western aid for certain foods and armaments.

They will also discuss ways of achieving a solution to the problem of the disputed region of Trieste, whose administration was divided last year between the United Nations and Yugoslavia.

Tight security

Security was tight as the occasion has been marked by a great deal of controversy, especially among those Yugoslav exiles who regard Marshal Tito as a dictator.

Spectators were kept well away from the River Thames embankment where the marshal disembarked this afternoon.

He shook hands with the Duke and made a short speech in faltering English greeting the people of Britain and expressing hope of mutual co-operation, understanding and peace.

"I wish to assure the peoples of Great Britian that they should consider the people of my country as theirstaunchallies because the people of the new Yugoslavia are striving towards the same ends as the people of Great Britain," he said.

He then inspected the Guard of Honour and was taken in a bullet-proof car escorted by police motorcyclists to Downing Street.

Later in the afternoon he laid a wreath at the Cenotaph and saluted Britain's war dead.

staunch: firm and steadfast; true（坚定的）