The Padanian Armed Separatist Phalanx was a small, separatist terrorist group active in northern Italy in 1998.  The Padanian Armed Separatist Phalanx (F.A.S.P.) issued two communiques and attacked one target during its existence.  The F.A.S.P. believed that northern Italy should become an independent state.  In the F.A.S.P.'s words, the only way to achieve independence from Italy would be through "armed revolution" aimed at political parties, judiciary, police, and the artistic patrimony of Italy.  The group referred to themselves as "fanatic kamikaze northernists" who were engaged in a "hard battle for the armed independence" of northern Italy.  (Rome ANSA)<p><p>While the objectives of F.A.S.P. are in many ways ridiculous, there is a larger context to this separatist movement.   The movement to separate northern Italy from the rest of the country was first expressed by an Italian political party in the 1990s.  This political party, called the Northern League (Lega Nord), coined the term "Padania" to represent what they saw as an independent country.  Padania, referring to the area surrounding the Po river valley, constitutes the majority of northern Italy.  In 1997, the Northern League went as far as electing a "parliament of Padania."  A primary motive for the northern areas of Italy to form an independent country is economic.  Northern Italy is a vibrant economic hub and the separatist movement of Padania grew from complaints that an overly centralized Italian government redistributed too much of the North's revenue to the southern areas of Italy.

The F.A.S.P. has never been connected to members of the Northern League.  In fact, F.A.S.P. justified their terrorist approach to independence because of "the complete failure of the Northern League's Gandhi-like project" (Rome ANSA).  For their part, the Northern League no longer supports an independent Padania.  Instead, the political group campaigns for the more realistic goal of a decentralized Italy.  The F.A.S.P. has not been heard of since September 22, 1998 and is presumed inactive.