Posted on 08/20/2002 12:08:08 PM PDT by Destro
Italy Thwarts Basilica Attack Plot
Tue Aug 20, 2:43 PM ET
A Moroccan man is shown walking in the San Patronio Basilica in Bologna, northern Italy, in this picture taken from a home video seized Monday by Italian authorities and made available Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2002, during a press conference. Four Moroccans and an Italian, left, whose names were not made public, were arrested Monday under the suspiscion of terrorism after they filmed themselves near the central altar and the frescoes in the basilica. (AP Photo/Gianfilippo Oggioni, HO)
By FRANCES D'EMILIO, Associated Press Writer
ROME (AP) - Italian police arrested four Moroccans and an Italian who they say may have been planning to attack a Bologna basilica with a 15th-century fresco inside that depicts the Muslim prophet Muhammad in hell, being devoured by demons.
Prosecutor Paolo Giovagnoli said the five men were arrested Monday in the church itself, San Petronio Basilica, and were accused of criminal association with the aim of terrorism.
In June, Milan daily Corriere della Sera reported that Islamic extremists were plotting to attack the basilica because they found the fresco insulting to Islam. Also in June, plainclothes police were assigned to the basilica.
A group of Italian Muslims had appealed unsuccessfully to the Vatican ( news - web sites) last year to have the fresco, by Giovanni da Modena, removed or to have parts of it covered, arguing that it offended Islam.
The five men, who live in Padua, a city in northeastern Italy, were arrested after they videotaped the fresco and the central altar with a medieval-era crucifix, and were overheard saying worrisome things, Giovagnoli said.
"They were heard saying phrases hostile to (the Christian) religion, expressing the possibility of destroying" religious symbols, Giovagnoli said.
Among the phrases the men said, according to the prosecutor:
_ "That which (Osama) bin Laden does is just what's needed."
_ "If they don't take it (the fresco) away, everything will come tumbling down."
Police were still translating the conversations, which were spoken in Berber, which is spoken in northern Africa.
Authorities did not immediately release the men's names.
Corriere della Sera had reported that Carabinieri paramilitary police learned of a plot to attack the basilica by intercepting phone conversations as part of a larger investigation into Muslim extremists operating in Italy.
That investigation led to the convictions earlier this year of seven Tunisians in Milan who were accused of providing logistical support to recruits of al-Qaida, bin Laden's terrorist network, passing through Europe.
Asked if the Bologna authorities had uncovered any links between the five men and suspected terrorist cells in other Italian cities, Giovagnoli said so far nothing has turned up to indicate a connection.
The Italians actually nabbed the jihadis.
Definitely falls under the category of "bad idea." Can you imagine the British knights on their way to the holy land? Sir Paul McCartney, Sir Elton John, Sir Steven Spielberg, and so on. I'd probably die from dehydration caused while pissing my pants laughing.
Islamic plot to destroy cathedral fresco (6/24/02)
If there is one lesson we have learned from the WTC, it is that they will keep it up until they've succeeded, unless we destroy them first.
I am sorry that Islam so easily offended by a mere picture. Is is OK for Americans to be offended by Islam's seeming complicity in 911? Or would that be wrong?
If this had occurred in the US, we'd immediately be treated to stories about how these are just silly people, not the real terrorists not the higher ups that we 'really' want.
Consider the shoe bomber thwarted- a funny, silly person, not a real terrorist. Consider the shoe bomber successful- an unstoppable mastermind, who is a super genuis at every step.
http://www.armyofgod.com/Mohameddemons.html
A picture is worth 1000 words ...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.