Sicilian Mafia in truce talks - media

Fugitive killer Benedetto Spera was recently arrested

ROME, Italy (CNN) -- The Sicilian Mafia may be in the initial stages of a conditional surrender to the government in Rome, according to Italian media reports.

It is said to be negotiating a truce with the Italian government in exchange for lighter sentences and better prison conditions.

La Repubblica newspaper reports that an imprisoned Mafia boss recently met Italy's national anti-Mafia prosecutor Pierluigi Vigna to make an offer.

It said the Cosa Nostra crime gang would formally surrender, and each Mafioso admit his crimes.

In return the state would offer reduced jail terms, more comfortable prison conditions, and no pressure to provide further information on other Mafia members.

Prominent bosses seized

Vigna denies he is in negotiations with the Mafia. "The word negotiation disgusts me," he told Italian State Radio.

"What I do is conduct investigative conversations with detainees who request them," he said. But he does not deny meeting the Mafia boss.

The infamous Cosa Nostra has been under fire over the past decade. Two of its most prominent bosses are currently serving tough prison sentences and the state has made a series of prominent arrests in the past few months.

Alleged Sicilian Mafia fugitive Benedetto Spera was arrested last week when police stormed a country house near Palermo

Spera, 60, had been convicted in absentia and sentenced to life imprisonment for the 1992 bombing deaths of two of Italy's top anti-Mafia prosecutors.

The deal for a conditional surrender, if finalised, would offer security to top Mafiosi like reigning crime boss and fugitive Bernardo Provenzano, by protecting them from being incriminated by colleagues in prison.

It would give the Mafia a respite from head-on confrontations with state authorities enabling the crime organisation to do business quietly.

With reputed links to hundreds of politicians, businessmen and members of the law enforcement community, the Mafia is well placed to cash in on more than $8.3 billion in spending on public works in Sicily.

The benefits of such a deal for the Italian state are still unclear. But for the Cosa Nostra, reduced jail terms may be a small price to pay for the lucrative dividends of peace.

CNN's Rome bureau contributed to this report.

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Italian Government (In Italian)

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