Thou shalt not be seen with a cop

Many of the commandments appear aimed at maintaining security and the secrecy for which the Sicilian Mafia, or Cosa Nostra, is well-known. Others address courteous behavior.

The list of rules was discovered by anti-Mafia police in Sicily who were searching documents and other property seized after the arrest of Salvatore Lo Piccolo, according to Italian media reports from the Sicilian capital of Palermo .

Lo Piccolo, who authorities said was angling to become the Cosa Nostra8217;s top 8220;boss of bosses8221;, was arrested last week after nearly 15 years on the lam.

The 8220;Rights and Duties8221; for the exemplary Mafioso was found in a sheaf of papers that Lo Piccolo carried with him at all times, inside a leather briefcase, the Italian news agency Ansa reported.

Italian newspapers published photographs of the purported list.

Also discovered in Lo Piccolo8217;s documents, the reports said, was a loyalty oath, in which members swear that if they betray the organisation 8220;my flesh must burn.8221;

Some Mafia experts expressed skepticism about the so-called Ten Commandments, saying it was doubtful Lo Piccolo, or any boss, would actually type out the rules. They wouldn8217;t have to.

8220;They all know the rules, and for generations the Mafia has always avoided communicating other than by word of mouth,8221; said Enrico Bellavia, a Palermo-based journalist who has written books about the Mafia.

If the transcription is suspect, the rules themselves ring true, according to Bellavia. He said the list was like a Cliff8217;s Notes of a longer, more intricate and tradition-hewn code of proper mob behavior.

Ansa speculated that the list may have been intended in part to rein in certain of the more flamboyant new-generation mobsters who drive Porsches and flaunt their wealth and power. Some older Mafia dons believe attracting that kind of attention is bad for business.

Other rules command that a Mafioso be respectful to his wife. But the code also orders complete loyalty to the Cosa Nostra, saying a Mafioso is always on duty and available, even when the wife is in labor.

In addition, no one can become a member of the Cosa Nostra who has relatives in the police. It is forbidden to steal money from other families within the organisation. Members must 8220;hold to moral values.8221;

However, there8217;s not a single 8220;Thou shall not kill8221; in the bunch.