Mafiosi warned over their 'morals'

It was Bob Dylan who coined the phrase "to live outside the law you must be honest". Now the Sicilian Mafia has indicated that it is in full agreement with the bard of Hibbing, Minnesota.

When Cosa Nostra's new boss of bosses, Salvatore Lo Piccolo, was arrested this week, investigators found a document headed "Rights and Duties" in his briefcase. It appears to be a warning to younger mafiosi who take too much inspiration from television series such as The Sopranos.

The Ten "Mafiosi Commandments" include: never look at the wives of friends; don't go to pubs and clubs; wives must be treated with respect. They also list people who cannot be part of Cosa Nostra: anyone who has a close relative in the police, anyone with a two-timing relative in the family, anyone who behaves badly and does not hold to moral values.

Sicilian mafiosi are known to hold their trans-Atlantic comrades in deep disdain for their fondness for drink, drugs and flashy accessories. Despite the fortunes accumulated through drug dealing, senior mafiosi such as Bernardo Provenzano, arrested last year after decades on the run, pride themselves on almost monastic lifestyles. The only reading matter in his hideout was seven bibles.