| Submit your comments on this article |
| Europe |
| Italy ’departure point’ for suicide bombers |
| 2004-02-10 |
| LARGELY seen until recently as a logistical base for Islamic terrorists, Italy has become a departure point for suicide attackers linked to al-Qaeda and active against US-led forces in Iraq, according to an Italian intelligence report released today. The document also warned that forces staging anti-coalition attacks in Iraq might expand their scope and targets. The report came weeks after Italian investigators said they shut down a European network suspected of recruiting Islamic militants to carry out attacks on US-led forces in Iraq. The investigators said the volunteers were drawn from Muslim youths living on the fringes of society in Western Europe, including Italy. Evidence gathered over the past six months shows "the strategic importance of our country ... not only as a transit point and for logistic and financial support, but also as a departure point for would-be ’kamikaze’ or holy warriors" in Iraq, read the biannual report put together by the Italian secret services. The Italians have been busy. The intelligence report said many of the extremists stationed in Italy had links to North-African terror groups and to al-Qaeda’s operatives believed to be active in the autonomous northern Kurdish region in Iraq. The report said the Italian cells seeking to recruit people for suicide attacks include high-ranking suspects, and are mainly based in Milan and other northern cities such as Cremona, Parma and Reggio Emilia. Regions like Tuscany and Piedmont in the north and Campania in the south are also considered breeding grounds for extremists, the 46-page report said. From there, the extremists had taken part in what the report described as the "Iraqi campaign". The secret service report, which covered the last six months of 2003, did not spell out what attacks in Iraq might have been carried by people coming from Italy. However, in December, top Italian investigators said that one recruit from Italy may have been involved in a rocket attack on the Al-Rasheed Hotel in Baghdad in October, when the US assistant defence secretary, Paul Wolfowitz, was staying there. I think this was the rockets in the generator attack. Italian authorities have put many suspected terrorists behind bars in the last few years, in many cases alleging logistical support to extremists passing through Europe, such as providing fake papers. In November Italian authorities arrested two people on suspicion of recruiting militants for suicide attacks in Iraq, the first such arrests in Italy since the beginning of the war. A third suspect, an Algerian, was picked up in Germany on an arrest warrant issued in Milan as part of the same probe. In an interview published today, the Italian foreign minister, Franco Frattini, said NATO needs to strengthen ties to southern Mediterranean and Middle East countries to combat terrorism. "Only by involving countries from the southern side (of the Mediterranean) in a common defence and security plan can we create the conditions for a stable solution and especially for a stable action against terrorism," Frattini told Corriere della Sera. Frattini did not identify the countries he wanted increased cooperation with, but said the plan in the future might include Iraq. The minister was quoted as saying he would make a proposal to NATO at an Alliance summit next month. We’ll have to see if we can find more of this report. |
| Posted by:Steve |