Mafia boss shot dead in Sicily on eve of G7 summit

JUST days before Theresa May and Donald Trump arrive in Sicily for the G7 summit, an alleged mafia don has been shot dead in daylight on the streets of Palermo.

Giuseppe Dainotti, regarded as a senior godfather in Sicily’s Cosa Nostra mafia, died yesterday when two men riding a motorbike drew up alongside him and shot him in the head.

The killing bore the hallmarks of a professional mafia hit. Police believe he was killed by rivals within the Cosa Nostra, possibly over a drug turf war, amid reports that he had been a “dead man walking” for at least a year.

The 67-year-old was riding a bicycle when he was shot dead. A local woman said: “I heard two gunshots. It was about 7.50am. I looked outside and I saw a man lying on the ground, losing blood from his head. As soon as I realised that a murder had been commited I was terrified.”

Francesco Lo Voi, a prosecutor in Palermo, said: “When people say the mafia is finished or has been defeated, sooner or later something happens that shows that the mafia is still here.”

The G7 summit will be held in Taormina, at the opposite end of Sicily.

Mrs May, President Trump and the leaders of France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Canada will travel to the picturesque resort on Friday for the two-day summit.

The town, which sits on a cliff overlooking the sea, will be in lockdown and protected by around 10,000 soldiers and police.