Bomb found in Rome underground train

Police in Rome have found a crude bomb in an empty underground train.

The device, described by one police source as "rudimentary", was found by a driver preparing a train for service in a yard near the Rebibbia metro station at about 9am on Tuesday, transport authority ATAC said.

It was in a box with cables, batteries and antennas, an ATAC spokesman said.

Police saud the device contained a small quantity of explosive powder but lacked a detonator and could not have exploded.

The device was discovered at a time of increased tension in Italy following anti-government protests last week that descended into some of the worst violence in Rome for years.

A senior Iraqi official said last week that al-Qaeda was planning attacks in the US, Britain and Europe around Christmas.

A suspected suicide bomber was killed in a botched attack in Stockholm earlier this month. Police believe he was planning to attack a train station or department store at the height of the Christmas shopping season.