[CPProt.net] Italy: Mafia informer help sought in art theft

[MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)]

Mafia informer help sought in art theft

PALERMO, Italy, Nov. 28 (UPI) -- Art lovers in Italy want a jailed Mafia
informer to help them find a Caravaggio Nativity painting stolen in 1969 and
believed worth $38 million. 

The painting, depicting Saints Francis and Lawrence, was stolen from the San
Lorenzo oratory in Palermo, reports Britain's Guardian newspaper. 

Sicilian art lovers believe Francesco Marino Mannoia, who is serving a
life-in-prison term, knows where the painting may be hidden. 

Mannoia, a heroin refiner whose mother, sister and aunt were killed by the
Mafia after he turned a state witness, has admitted taking part in the
theft, the report said. He has revealed that the painting was damaged but
has never disclosed its location. 

"We cannot offer him anything for this information but we are appealing to
his conscience. It is something he could do for the good of Sicily," said
Riccardo Agnello, head of the Palermo branch of the Italian Environment
Fund. 

Caravaggio completed the painting in 1609, a year before he died.