Corleone apologises for decades of Mafia murders

Corleone, the Sicilian hill town that is synonymous with the Mafia through books and films, has asked forgiveness for the murders, shootings and intimidation committed by its godfathers.

The appeal was made by the mayor of the town on the 20th anniversary of the arrest of a Corleone-born mafia leader, Toto Riina, nicknamed "The Beast" for his ruthlessness and brutality.

Leoluchina Savona apologised to victims of the Mafia's vendettas, bombings and killings on behalf of the inhabitants of the town, which was immortalised by The Godfather book and subsequent films starring Marlon Brando and Al Pacino.

"I apologise in the name of all the people of Corleone. I ask forgiveness for the blood that was spilled," the mayor said on Monday during a ceremony to mark the anniversary of Riina's arrest.

"To the Mafia, I ask you to leave this land, to abandon the struggle. I ask them to admit defeat, to surrender."

Politicians, police and ordinary people killed by the Mafia, including prominent prosecutors Paolo Borsellino and Giovanni Falcone, who were blown up in bomb attacks in 1992, did not die in vain.

"In the 20 years since the arrest of Toto Riina, their blood reminds us all that there can only be one path to choose in this war (that of legality)," she said.

Once the "capo di tutti capi" (boss of bosses) of the powerful Corleonesi faction of the Mafia, Riina is serving multiple life-sentences after being convicted of several murders, including the assassination of rival gangsters.

He was succeeded by Bernardo "The Bulldozer" Provenzano, who in turn was arrested in 2006 after more than 40 years as a fugitive.

References to The Godfather in Corleone are everywhere – a bar on the main street offers a bitter aperitif called "Don Corleone Amaro", while just across the road, the walls of a pastry shop are covered in black and white pictures of Brando and Pacino in scenes from the films.