Italy to put 30,000 troops after rapes shock Rome

Italian leader Silvio Berlusconi said today he would increase tenfold the number of soldiers helping police patrol city streets -- taking the total to 30,000 -- in response to violent rapes.

The centre-right premier came to power last year promising to get tough on crime and has put 3,000 troops on duties like guarding embassies to free up police to pursue criminals.

Three shocking rape cases in Rome this month have inflamed the media. One attack yesterday blamed on five Eastern Europeans led to a police raid on an illegal Roma camp today.

The events echoed the rape and murder of a woman in Rome in October 2007 which contributed to making crime one of the main campaign issues in last year's elections.

Berlusconi won partly by promising to crack down on crime and quickly enlisted the help of the military. He also pushed through new laws against illegal immigrants, blamed by some Italians, including Berlusconi's allies, for violent crime.

Berlusconi said the rapes "can't be blamed on poor security" and said "there has been a drop in all major street crimes".

But the centre-left opposition said the government's tactic had failed and shadow interior minister Marco Minniti said such a large scale mobilisation of the military was "unprecedented, very expensive and would mean a state of siege".

Police unions also questioned it, with Nicola Tanzi of the SAP union saying: "It's not enough putting soldiers on the streets to fight crime. Crime, especially organised crime, has to be fought with intelligence and investigation."