Italians Ask Fbi to Help Decode Mafia Bible

Italian detectives have turned to the FBI in an attempt to resolve the biggest outstanding mystery left by the arrest of the Sicilian mafia's "boss of bosses".

Bernardo Provenzano was seized in April at a farm building near the fabled Cosa Nostra haunt of Corleone, after 43 years in hiding. With him were some 200 coded notes and five copies of the Bible, including one extensively annotated. The notes have since been deciphered, leading to a string of arrests of alleged mafiosi. But all attempts to establish the meaning - if any - of the underscorings, comments and other scribblings in Provenzano's Bible have apparently proved fruitless.

Suspicions were aroused after the mobster's arrest when he asked for the Bible in jail. His request was rejected. The daily Corriere della Sera reported yesterday that the book had been sent to the FBI's Cryptanalysis and Racketeering Records Unit.

Investigators initially speculated that the Bible held a key for the cipher used to write the notes. But Corriere said the latest theory was that it formed part of a scheme that enabled Provenzano to communicate with fellow Mafiosi in prison. Italy's mobsters serve their time under a draconian regime intended to prevent any communication with the outside world. But they are allowed a Bible.

Investigators are particularly intrigued by Provenzano's interest in the Book of Apocalypse, to the point of copying out entire verses.