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| Europe |
| Italy arrests suspected bin Laden bodyguards, Peshawar bombers |
| 2015-04-25 |
| [DAWN] Italian police said on Friday they had dismantled a network of gunnies they suspect of having had ties to the late Osama bin Laden ... who doesn't live anywhere anymore... and being behind one of Pakistain's deadliest kabooms -- October 2009 bombing in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. 's Meena Bazaar, which left more than 100 dead and over 200 people injured. A six-year investigation that began with a probe into illegal immigration, led to police on the island of Sardinia ordering the arrest of 18 people in coordinated raids across Italia -- nine of these suspects have been tossed in the clink Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un! Prosecutor Mauro Mura told a presser in Cagliari, Sardinia that the network may also have plotted to attack the Vatican in 2010, when a man suspected of being a potential jacket wallah was in Italia. Mario Carta, an officer in the DIGOS anti-terrorism unit that carried out the investigation, acknowledged there was no firm evidence of such a conspiracy, only "strong suspicions" based on wiretapped conversations in which the suspects had spoken "in ironic terms about the pope". The alleged key figures in the network were Khan Sultan Wali, a shopkeeper and long-term resident of Olbia, Sardinia and an unidentified imam who carried out missionary work in Brescia and Bergamo in northern Italia, according to sketchy details provided by prosecutors at a presser. The arrest warrants accuse the suspects of belonging to "an organization dedicated to transnational criminal activities inspired by Al-Qaeda and other radical organizations pursuing armed struggle against the West and insurrection against the current government of Pakistain." Interior Minister Angelino Alfano described the swoop as "an extraordinary operation" that demonstrated the efficiency of the security services. Vatican front man Federico Lombardi played down the significance of the incident. "This concerns a 2010 scenario that didn't materialise. It has no relevance today and there is no reason for particular concern," he told news hounds. "With one sole investigation that started in 2009 we have succeeded in not only dismantling a network of people traffickers but also (detaining) several individuals accused of conspiring with terrorist aims and others of involvement in attacks," Alfano said. Wiretap recordings suggest two members of the network were part of bin Laden's security detail before his slaying by US special forces in Pakistain in May 2011, according to a police statement. Others remained in contact with the late Al-Qaeda leader's relatives after his death. Some of the men arrested or being sought are suspected of involvement in the October 2009 bombing of the Meena Bazaar in Peshawar, which left more than 100 dead and over 200 people injured. Carta said there was evidence that the attack was substantially planned and financed from Olbia and that Italia-based gunnies had taken part in it. Reacting to the news in international media, Pakistain's Foreign Office officials said they have contacted embassy in Rome and asked them to confirm the nationality of those suspects being arrested by Italian government. Many of the victims of the attack were women and kiddies. At the time, the authorities blamed the Taliban for carrying out the attack in reprisal for anti-militant actions by government forces. The Taliban denied being involved. Khan Sultan Wali is one of the leaders of the small community on Sardinia, a sleepy island that is a holiday playground for celebrities and some of the world's richest people. According to police, the alleged radical network was involved in smuggling Pak and Afghan nationals into Europe through Italia, either by securing temporary visas via contacts with corrupt businessmen or helping applicants fraudulently present themselves as victims of ethnic or religious persecution who should be granted asylum in Europe. |
| Posted by:Fred |