'Ndrangheta convict takes hostages

(ANSA) - Reggio Emilia, November 5 - A man convicted last week in the sprawling 'Aemilia' trial on 'Ndrangheta Calabrian mafia infiltration in Emilia holed up in a post office near Reggio Emilia Monday, taking staff hostage with a knife, local sources said.
    According to early reports, the man allowed all the customers out of the branch before taking hostage five staff including the woman director.
    Police are on the scene and have blocked roads and started negotiating, sources said.
    The man had been on the run since last week's 'Aemilia' trial which handed down 118 sentences totalling over 1,200 years in jail, including the father of former soccer player Vincenzo Iaquinta, who got 19 years.
    Iaquinta himself got two years for weapons possession but was cleared of mafia charges.