Italy's foreign minister welcomed the arrests in France Wednesday of seven former members of the left-wing group the Red Brigades, saying it proved "one cannot run away from one's responsibilities". "These former Brigade members were accused and convicted in Italy for acts of terrorism related to the bloody events of the 1970s and 1980s," Luigi Di Maio said in a statement. "One cannot run away from one's responsibilities, from the pain inflicted, the harm caused." He said the arrests, announced by the French presidency and confirmed by Italian police, were the result of cooperation by authorities on both sides of the border. Ultra-leftist groups like the Red Brigades sowed chaos during the period in Italy known as the "Years of Lead" -- named after the number of bullets fired -- from the late 1960s to mid-1980s. The Red Brigades were the most notorious and were blamed for hundreds of murders, including the kidnapping and killing of Christian Democrat leader and former premier Aldo Moro in 1978. ar/wdb