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Posted on 04/01/2004 1:01:49 AM PST by csvset
Italian police have arrested several people suspected of international terrorism in an early morning raid in Perugia, central Italy.
"A huge operation coordinated by the Perugia prosecutor is under way regarding crimes that have the aim of international terrorism," a police spokesman told Reuters.
The police had made "many" arrests, the spokesman said, without giving details.
The town has a university for foreigners and was recently identified by the interior ministry as one of five Italian cities at risk from attack by militant Islamists.
Italy has been on a state of alert since the March 11 bombings in Madrid, with Interior Minister Giuseppe Pisanu warning no country is safe from al Qaeda.
Police suspect Italy is home to at least 80 Muslim militants organised in cells dotted across the country, according to a secret report, details of which were published recently in a newspaper.
A Moroccan man sparked alarm by blowing himself up in a car outside a restaurant in the northern town of Brescia recently in an apparent protest against the war in Iraq.
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It seems as though arrests have been made in Turkey, Belgium and Holland as well.
Here's a brief history of Dhkp-C activity.
Since the late 1980s has concentrated attacks against current and retired Turkish security and military officials. Began a new campaign against foreign interests in 1990. Assassinated two US military contractors and wounded a US Air Force officer to protest the Gulf war. Launched rockets at US Consulate in Istanbul in 1992.
Assassinated prominent Turkish businessman and two others in early 1996, its first significant terrorist act as DHKP/C. Turkish authorities thwarted DHKP/C attempt in June 1999 to fire light antitank weapon at US Consulate in Istanbul. Series of safehouse raids, arrests by Turkish police over last two years has weakened group significantly. Turkish security forces stormed prison wards controlled by the DHKP/C in December 2000, transferring militants to cell-type penitentiaries and further undermining DHKP/C cohesion
Three Italian and two Turkish nationals were held in the raid focusing on the central university town of Perugia. As part of the same investigation, nine other suspects were reportedly held across Europe - seven in Turkey and one each in Belgium and the Netherlands. Italian police said they dismantled a Turkish cell that had carried out terrorist attacks in Turkey. Italy's secret services have warned of an upsurge of radical Islamic activism in recent months and the risks that individuals or small groups, even those with no links to organised terror, could embark on attacks. The country has been on a state of alert since the 11 March bombings in the Spanish capital, Madrid. The interior ministry had identified Perugia - which has a university for foreigners - as a possible target of attack by militant Islamists. Europe sweep Perugia's public prosecutor had issued at least 14 arrest warrants. The early morning operation targeted "crimes that have the aim of international terrorism," Perugia police said. They said it succeeded in dismantling a cell of the outlawed Turkish Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C).
The illegal group, which aims to topple the Turkish government and replace it with a Marxist one, has carried out a series of other bombings since 2001. One of the Turkish nationals held was said to have headed the cell - which was helped by local Italian anti-imperialist campaigners, Italian authorities say. Among the Italians arrested is Moreno Pasquinelli, spokesman for the Anti-imperialist Camp - a group opposed to the US-led occupation. The group's website on Iraq has been taken down by the Perugia police.
Increased risk On Wednesday, Italian investigators said they were widening their probe into a Moroccan man who blew himself up last Sunday, after they received a posthumous letter from the man, saying his suicide was in protest at the war in Iraq.
In the letter he specified that he was not a member of al-Qaeda or any terrorist group, but was angry about the war in Iraq and blamed Italy for supporting it. Italy has arrested several suspected Islamic militants recently - mainly in the north of the country. Investigators say the area is home to Muslim groups with possible links to al-Qaeda. In February, Italian police arrested three North Africans suspected of plotting to bomb Milan's metro and a cathedral in northern Italy.
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