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| Europe |
| Italy links arrests to terrorism |
| 2003-01-23 |
| Italy's justice minister said Thursday the arrests of five Moroccans, detained during a raid that turned up explosives and maps reportedly marking churches and a NATO base, were related to Italy's fight against terrorism. Justice Minister Roberto Castelli made the comments during a meeting Thursday with U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft. Police on Wednesday arrested five Moroccan men near the northern city of Rovigo after discovering a kilogram (2.2 pounds) of explosives and maps highlighting Padua's Basilica del Santo and the NATO base in Verona in their apartment, the Italian news agency ANSA reported. Carabinieri officials, who confirmed the discovery of explosives and maps, said at the time of the arrests they weren't speculating about possible terrorism-related activities. However, Castelli said the arrests were part of Italy's fight against terror. "Even the facts of yesterday are testimony that our commitment isn't just theoretical but produces results," Castelli told reporters. Italy has been on the ball in this fight The U.S. Embassy was briefed on the arrests, an embassy source said. Italian authorities routinely brief American officials on operations concerning suspected terrorist activities, the source added.Sofia Tiengo, the lawyer assigned to the five suspects, said her clients had so far only been charged with possessing explosives. She had not spoken to the suspects yet, but said that the two already interrogated by police denied all charges. "They were just, ah, tourists, see. The maps were just of tourist attractions, it's a very pretty base. Explosives? Why, those are part of their religion! You can't deny anyone the right to practice their religion?" Italy has arrested dozens of people as part of its probe into militant Islamic cells operating in Italy, particularly in Milan and Bologna. Italian prosecutors say the cells provided logistical and other help to Osama bin Laden's operatives, including furnishing forged documents to people who eventually went on to train and fight in Afghanistan. Ashcroft praised Italy's efforts so far. "Indeed, the recent arrests and the list of convictions of those who have been involved in terrorism are tangible evidence of the fact that Italy takes terrorism seriously and fights it aggressively," he said. The suspects included a religious leader of Rovigo's Muslim community, Reduane Bnoughazi, 32, and four other men aged 28-41, a police official said Thursday. The official, who asked not to be identified, said the explosives were found during a routine search for illegal immigrants. The officer said the men were employed and were trying to obtain residency permits in Italy. Several recent arrests in Italy's anti-terrorism campaign have occurred after apartment raids where police say they discovered explosives and maps, some designating suspected target areas. In October, police arrested three Egyptians in Anzio, a port town south of Rome, after they said they found two kilograms (4.4 pounds) of explosives and a map indicating the U.S. military cemetery at Nettuno in the men's apartment. The five people arrested in Wednesday's raid -- identified by police as Bnoughazi, Abdallah Mounder, Moustafa' El Bouhali, Amro Lahrajh and Kamal Ben Reddad -- were being questioned Thursday by prosecutors in Rovigo, near Padua in northern Italy. Italy has years of practice in fighting terror groups, from the Mafia to the Red Brigades. FOLLOWUP: Drudge has a link to the TABLOID! account that adds more gory detail... A TERRORIST plot to launch a bomb blitz in London was foiled by Italian cops yesterday. Five Moroccan men with links to al-Qaâida suspects in Britain were seized during a raid near Venice. Police found explosives and maps of central London at the hideout. They also found documents addressed to men in the UK. Somebody's going to be moderately unhappy pretty soon, we hope... The gang were seized by cops who raided a squalid, damp-ridden hovel in a yard filled with junk. The abandoned farm, with plaster missing from walls and rotten shutters gaping open at windows, had been used as a planning HQ by the mob. Just like home, huh? Yesterday the five were being held for questioning following Wednesdayâs dramatic swoop in Badia Polesin, 40 miles south of Venice. Only two could speak any Italian and interpreters were being brought in for the other three, but all five denied knowing the explosive was there. "Nope. Nope. Wudn't us. Somebody musta left it there..." The arrests are understood to have resulted from intelligence supplied by British security forces including MI5. Perhaps originating with the ricin arrests last week? Italian police said the men, aged between 28 and 41, had contact with al-Qaâida suspects in this country. In contrast to Britain â where anti-terror operations are carried out with utmost secrecy and details of arrest given days later â an Italian TV crew were invited along on the raid. "C'mon, Greta! Snap it up! Geraldo's hair's startin' to smoke..." TV footage showed one of the gang yelling âItâs a fit up, itâs a fit up,â before being bundled into a police car and driven away at high speed. "Yeah! We been framed!" A source from British security forces, who are in constant liaison with European partners, said: âThis is a triumph for intelligence co-operation between different countries. âWe believe we have taken out a major al-Qaâida gang looking to target this country.â Among others... A kilo of C4 was found stuffed inside a sock under a pile of dirty laundry. The explosive, the same type used in the devastating Bali nightclub bombing last year, is a military substance developed by the US Army and is not commonly available. On one map a Nato base at Verona was highlighted with the letters âBXBâ and the historic cathedral in Padua with a âBâ. Police believe these meant they were potential terrorist targets. There were no marks on the London maps but other documents contained details of churches and foreign embassies. A police source in the town of Rovigo said: âC4 is very difficult to come by casually and therefore very difficult to understand how these men say they donât know how it got there. This warrants a serious and thorough investigation.â "Well, we thought the cheese was pretty bad, but what the hell? We're from North Africa. What do we know what Italian cheese tastes like?" The five were named as Anro Lahrajh, 28, Kamal Ben Reddad, 33, Moustapha el Bouhali, 33, Reduane Bhoughazi, 36, and Abdullah Mounder, 41. Police sources described Bhoughazi, a well-known figure in the areaâs Muslim community, as the gang leader. Later it emerged that one of the gang, Lahrajh, had been held last year with four other Moroccans after a handgun with its serial number rubbed off was found. Italian justice minister Roberto Castelli said the arrests were proof that his countryâs commitment to the war on terrorism was ânot just theoretical but produces resultsâ. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #2 It is all perfectly logical. Any soldiers are targets. Dead soldiers live in the cemetaries. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2003-01-23 20:23:20 |
| #1 This is at least the second time I can recall that the turbans were plotting to bomb U.S. cemetaries. I guess dead American soldiers are easier to, ummm... kill? than live ones. |
| Posted by: Fred 2003-01-23 17:43:47 |