Mafia godfather's daughter ties knot in Corleone

By Phil Stewart Thu Jul 24, 9:05 AM ET
ROME (Reuters) - When Don Corleone's daughter got married in the film "The Godfather," the guests kissed his hand and he
dispensed favors because no Sicilian Mafia boss could refuse a request on his daughter's wedding day.
But when the real thing took place in Corleone, the Sicilian hill town made
famous by the movie, the Mafia's former "boss of bosses" Salvatore
'Toto' Riina could only read about it in newspapers on Thursday from inside
prison.
Lucia Riina, his 28-year-old daughter, was married on Wednesday and, in the
absence of her father, given away by her brother, Giuseppe.
Besides her father, other members of Lucia's extended family also could not
attend, including brother Gianni and uncle Leoluca Bagarella, who were also
Mafia bosses and are also behind bars.
"Our thoughts go to those who could not be here," the groom,
Vincenco Bellomo, told the guests, according to reports in Italian newspapers.
Giuseppe, who was freed from jail in February after serving time for Mafia
crimes, also thanked their father, whose Mafia nickname was "the
Beast" because of his ruthlessness.
"You should be paying for the (media) rights," Giuseppe joked to
reporters, according to La Repubblica newspaper.
The wedding, which took place in a church in Corleone, enticed the media but
shocked Mafia victims.
"Whoever marries them becomes an accomplice," Sonia Alfano, daughter
of a Sicilian journalist killed by the Mafia, told La Repubblica.
"The newlyweds never disassociated themselves from the barbarous
mobsters, but instead thanked them."
Corleone Mayor Antonino Iannazzo was neutral, describing the couple as
"two private citizens" who followed the rules to publicly marry and
who should be respected.
Salvatore Riina's arrest in 1993 after nearly a quarter of a century on the
run ended a violent reign which saw a clan war and challenge to authority
dramatized by the murders in 1992 of anti-Mafia magistrates Giovanni Falcone
and Paolo Borsellino.
(Editing by Philip Pullella and Mary Gabriel)