Italy police raid 'terror school'

BBC ^ | 21 July 2007

[bd476]

Italy police raid 'terror school'

Police in central Italy say they have uncovered a bomb school for Islamist militants after raiding a mosque in Perugia and making three arrests.



Italian police put a laptop seized in the raid on display



The Ponte Felcino mosque is located in a suburb of Perugia



Evidence of training in explosives and poisons, and instructions on flying a Boeing 747 were reportedly found.

Police said the suspected cell had links to a group associated with Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.

They seized the imam and two other men, all Moroccans, and have a warrant for a fourth man believed to be abroad.

We have discovered and neutralised a real 'terror school' Carlo De Stefano anti-terrorism police head

The three detainees refused to reply to questions when they were brought before a local magistrate.

Twenty foreign students were also arrested in a related dawn raid and police said that those without residence permits would be deported.

Perugia, a popular tourist destination because of its medieval and Renaissance palaces, is home to Italy's University for Foreigners, where hundreds of students from the Middle East are enrolled in university courses in Italian and other subjects.

The discovery of the alleged terrorist training centre is a matter for serious concern to the Italian authorities, the BBC's David Willey reports from Rome.

Italian Interior Minister Giuliano Amato said it was now necessary to pay close attention to mosques being used for activities unrelated to religion.

Chemicals

The suspects were running an "in-depth operation of instruction and training in the use of weapons and combat techniques suitable for terrorist acts", police said.

Chemicals - including acids and cyanide - were found in the mosque's cellar and equipment for remote detonation of explosives was also discovered, they added.

"The investigation has shown that... there was a continued training for terrorist activity," anti-terrorism police head Carlo De Stefano said.

"We have discovered and neutralised a real 'terror school,' which was part of a widespread terrorism system made up of small cells that act on their own."

According to the police, the Perugia cell had contacts with two members of the Moroccan Islamic Combat Group arrested around two years ago in Belgium.

The group is believed to have ties to al-Qaeda and has been linked to the 2004 Madrid bombings and 2003 attacks in Casablanca.

The detained men were named as imam Korchi el Moustapha, 41, Mohamed el Jari, 47, and Driss Safika, 46.

'Quiet community'

Officers are reported to have spent two years investigating activities at the mosque.

Between daily prayers, the small mosque at Ponte Felcino doubled as a training camp, a police statement said.

The imam allegedly held courses, showed propaganda messages and made fiery sermons inciting a small group of disciples, some of them children, to join a Holy War.

The imam at the central mosque in Perugia, which has a 10,000-strong Muslim community, said the Ponte Felcino group had not appeared dangerous.

"Generally it's a quiet community," Abdel Qader told Italian news agency Ansa.

"A few made some noise over the international situation but those were just words. We trust justice... and if any [of the suspects] has made a mistake, he will have to pay."

[bd476]

ABC News Australia

Italian police hold 3 Moroccan terrorism suspects

Posted 1 hour 48 minutes ago

Italian police have arrested three Moroccans they suspected of running a "terrorist school" at a mosque, using it to recruit and train militants for attacks abroad.

"We found, and put out of service, what was a genuine 'terrorist school'," Carlo De Stefano, head of UCIGOS, a branch of the Italian police that specialises in security investigations, said.

Police said the imam at the mosque in Ponte Felcino, near the central Italian city of Perugia, and his two assistants had used it as a training camp for international terrorism.

It recruited militants for operations abroad, possibly in Iraq.

Materials seized included films and Internet downloads including instructions on how to fly a Boeing 747.

"The investigations documented how the suspects...were undertaking detailed and in-depth instruction and training in the use of weapons and combat techniques suitable for terrorist acts," the police said in a statement.

The interior ministry said a fourth Moroccan they sought was being held in a prison in an unidentified foreign country.

Among the Internet files were instructions on handling poisons, explosives and sending encrypted messages via computer.

Police said there were also "instructions aimed at aspiring mujahideen to get safely to conflict zones".

Interior Minister Giuliano Amato says the police operation had thwarted "very concrete risks" and that the possible use of a mosque by militants was a serious concern.

"This shows the necessity to pay close attention to a place which should only be used for religious activity," he said.

- Reuters

Italian police hold 3 Moroccan terrorism suspects

[shield]

Way to go Italy

[Proud_USA_Republican]

This was happening in a mosque? No way.

[Proud_USA_Republican]

But John Edwards said the War on Terror was a bumpersticker.

[bd476]

shield wrote: "Way to go Italy"

It's encouraging to see them taking action upon receiving good intelligence reports.

[Gideon T. Reader]

Great Job Piasians!
And,...they are great dressers too.
Now for the bad guys; toast their nuts a while and get some actionable intel for the operators to play with.
Buena. BUENA!!

[bd476]

LOL!

[hershey]

If this were the UK, they couldn’t even mention the word, Muslim, let alone arrest them.

[VOA]

bump

[Spruce]

No kidding! I am shocked!

Always with the bombs and the AK’s and the killing.

Why can’t muzzies be like the Lutherans have hotdish and bingo in the basement?

[bd476]

Italians taking action Ping.

[shield]

Bush has been talking about how countries throughout the world on hot after these radical extreme muslims...this is an example.

[bd476]

hershey wrote: "If this were the UK, they couldn’t even mention the word, Muslim, let alone arrest them."

Perhaps it's time for the UK and Germany to take notes from the Italians.

[VOA]

improved subtitle:

Officers are reported to have spent two years investigating
activities at the mosque local chapter of the death cult
known as "The Religion of Peace".

[Gumption]

Italian Interior Minister Giuliano Amato said it was now necessary to pay close attention to mosques being used for activities unrelated to religion.

Au contraire, mon frère. These activities are directly related to their "religion".

[Flavius]

school? what about school(s)

[Lorianne]

What? They were just making bumper stickers.

Those Italians ... always over reacting.

[cmiller623]

If we were smart, US Citizens would pay close attention to mosques in our midst. What do they teach beside Islam?? How long have all these mosques been operating in this country? Since the Saudi’s have bankrolled their construction using abscene oil profits. They are using our dollars to subvert us.

[bd476]

From the articles:

"...Evidence of training in explosives and poisons, and instructions on flying a Boeing 747 were reportedly found...

...Twenty foreign students were also arrested in a related dawn raid and police said that those without residence permits would be deported...

...The suspects were running an "in-depth operation of instruction and training in the use of weapons and combat techniques suitable for terrorist acts", police said...

...Chemicals - including acids and cyanide - were found in the mosque's cellar and equipment for remote detonation of explosives was also discovered, they added..." (BBC article linked above)

*****

"...Among the Internet files were instructions on handling poisons, explosives and sending encrypted messages via computer...

Police said there were also 'instructions aimed at aspiring mujahideen to get safely to conflict zones'..." (ABC News Australia article linked above)

[Cindy]

Thank you bd476.

This should be interesting.