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The government of Italy appears to be taking seriously the threats posed by the Islamic State (ISIS) to its nation. Italian officials said on Monday that they are considering sending 5,000 troops into Libya to combat the country’s burgeoning jihadist presence. In a recent video purportedly produced by the Islamic State’s Libya affiliate, the group slaughtered twenty-one Christians and vowed to seek out Rome as its next target. “And we will conquer Rome, by Allah’s permission, the promise of our prophet, peace be upon him,” a North American English-accented militant leader said after his comrades slaughtered the Christian hostages. Italian...

The Italian police have arrested two men suspected of planning an attack on the Charles de Gaulle airport near Paris. They are also suspected of planning other attacks in France and Great Britain. The two are thought to play a leading role in the al-Qaeda network.

April 2, 2009 Italian authorities carry out raids against "Islamist radicals" across country SNIPPET: "Rome, 2 April (AKI) - Twenty-six foreigners suspected of links to international terrorism as well as aiding and abetting illegal immigration are being investigated by Italian police, after raids carried out on Thursday in various Italian cities. The raids were carried out in properties around the northern cities of Vicenza, Venice, Padova, Brescia, Como, Cuneo and Trento, the central city of Florence and the southern city of Caserta. The anti-terrorism and organised crime investigators in March 2007 began probing alleged Islamic fundamentalists attending the Via Dei...

Because it depicts Muhammad being dragged into hell by a demon. Respect Europe's culture and history? Pah! It is all worthless trash, jahiliyya! Eurabia Alert: "Corridors of Power in Milan, Italy: Bad Manners, Bad Intentions and More," by Roland Flamini in World Politics Review, March 27 (thanks to Creeping Sharia): ISLAMIC PROTEST -- Visitors to the magnificent church of St. Petronio in Bologna are now searched by Italian police before entering because in addition to protests by Muslims offended by a depiction of Mohammed in a 14th-century fresco, there have been unsuccessful attempts to blow the painting up.

Two Moroccans arrested in Italy yesterday wanted to blow up the Milan Cathedral on Christmas. They hoped an attack during the busy holiday would cost dozens of lives. This according to tapped phone calls, reports La Repubblica. The two belonged to an Islamic terror cell which had been followed by the Italian police already for months... Rachid Ilhami (31) and Abdelkader Ghafir (43) were arrested in Giussano, a city 25km away from Milan. The detectives gathered from tapped phone calls and confiscated computer files that the two also prepared attacks on a supermarket and a police bureau. They are arrested...

A former Italian president says his country had allowed Palestinian terror groups to roam free in exchange for not attacking Italian targets. Francesco Cossiga's admission confirmed claims of such a deal revealed last week in an interview in the Corriere della Sera newspaper with Bassam Abu Sharif, the former chief of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. In a letter published Aug. 15 in Corriere della Sera, Cossiga described a "secret 'non-belligerence pact' between the Italian state and Palestinian resistance organizations, including terrorist groups" such as the PFLP. The deal, he said, had been devised by Prime Minister...

Rome, Apr. 15, 2008 (CWNews.com) - Representatives of the Al Qaida network have renewed their attacks on Pope Benedict XVI, in a message posted on the Islamic miliant web site al Hesbah. The latest message from Al Qaida expresses continuing anger at Pope Benedict, who was denounced by the terrorist network in March for leading a worldwide "crusade" against Islam. The message from Al Qaida also decried the electoral victory of Italy's former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, whose People of Liberty party won a solid victory in national elections. (In a bid to end Italy's "birth dearth," Berlusconi's coalition has...

2007-07-17 23:00:27 - ROME (AP) - An Italian appeals court upheld the conviction of five men on international terrorism charges for belonging to a cell that recruited militants to fight in Iraq, news reports said Tuesday. The Milan court confirmed the September 2006 sentences of 10 years in prison for Egyptian El Ayashi Radi, also known as Merai, and Iraqi Muhamad Majid, news agencies ANSA and Apcom reported. The court also upheld sentences of seven years for Housni Jamal, of Morocco, and 5½ years for Ciise Maxamed Cabdullaah, of Somalia. It lowered from seven to six years the prison term...

ROME, July 21: Italian police on Saturday 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,” said Carlo De Stefano, head of UCIGOS, a branch of the Italian police that specialises in security investigations. 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...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 18 (UPI) -- Al-Qaida's biggest ally in Africa is faltering in its efforts to transform the Sahara into an Afghanistan-style terror haven. But a critical mass of operatives has emerged in Italy, with ample resources and a broad shadow network primed to strike civilians across Europe.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 18 (UPI) -- Al-Qaida's biggest ally in Africa is faltering in its efforts to transform the Sahara into an Afghanistan-style terror haven. But a critical mass of operatives has emerged in Italy, with ample resources and a broad shadow network primed to strike civilians across Europe. Three Algerian members of the Salafist Group for Call and Combat, an Algeria-based terror group cited on the U.S. State Department's list of foreign terror organizations, were arrested last December by authorities in southern Italy and charged with planning attacks on civilians, according to Interior Minister Giuseppe Pisanu. More than $22 million...

Brescia and Naples, 18 Nov. (AKI) - The three Algerians detained on Tuesday in the Italian cities of Brescia and Naples were planning a massive terror attack - "on a ship as big as the Titanic, packed with explosives" - that aimed to kill "at least 10,000 people", as well as an attack on "Italian citizens and interests" in Tunisia, according phone conversations between the three men, which Italian anti-terror police say they intercepted after al-Qaeda's deadly 7 July attacks on London and on the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh. In their tapped phone conversations, Yamine Bouhrama, Mohamed...

Italian media report that Al Qaeda is moving operatives through Italy on their way to North Africa and Europe with the help of [the] Naples-based Camorra. Italian investigators say Osama Bin Laden's Al Qaeda organization is moving deep into the Mediterranean peninsula's underworld of organized crime. Italian media recently revealed that hundreds of Al Qaeda operatives coming from North Africa are being sent to Northern Europe though a maze of safe houses belonging to the Neapolitan Camorra, a Naples-based criminal network akin to the Mafia. The internationally connected Camorra organization specializes in drug trafficking, prostitution, gambling and human and arms trafficking. Historically, the...

Editor's Note: Italian media report that Al Qaeda is moving operatives through Italy on their way to North Africa and Europe with the help of a Naples-based criminal network similar to the Mafia. Italian investigators say Osama Bin Laden's Al Qaeda organization is moving deep into the Mediterranean peninsula's underworld of organized crime. Italian media recently revealed that hundreds of Al Qaeda operatives coming from North Africa are being sent to Northern Europe though a maze of safe houses belonging to the Neapolitan Camorra, a Naples-based criminal network akin to the Mafia. The internationally connected Camorra organization specializes in drug...

Editor's Note: Italian media report that Al Qaeda is moving operatives through Italy on their way to North Africa and Europe with the help of a Naples-based criminal network similar to the Mafia. Italian investigators say Osama Bin Laden's Al Qaeda organization is moving deep into the Mediterranean peninsula's underworld of organized crime. Italian media recently revealed that hundreds of Al Qaeda operatives coming from North Africa are being sent to Northern Europe though a maze of safe houses belonging to the Neapolitan Camorra, a Naples-based criminal network akin to the Mafia. The internationally connected Camorra organization specializes in drug...

DEBKAfile: Al Qaeda now threatens Rome. Berlusconi personally addressed July 26, 2005, 9:29 PM (GMT+02:00) The Abu Hafs al Masri Brigades who claimed the two London bombing attacks published a fresh warning Monday, July 25: “After London, it is Rome’s turn.” The Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi is warned that by failing to withdraw Italian troops from Iraq, he would by his own hand “turn Rome into a graveyard.” The statement run on the Internet threatens the Italian capital with harsher and more painful strikes than the London attacks. “As long as a single Italian soldier remains in Iraq, you...

Rome, 26 July (AKI) - Blair's preferred holiday spot - the Italian region of Tuscany - may be an al-Qaeda target in the month of August, when the British prime minister and his family are due to spend time at friend's Tuscan country house, according to the Italian newspaper Il Giornale. The newspaper referred to information gathered by German intelligence that spoke of Tuscany as a possible al-Qaeda target by the end of August. The information was picked up by an undercover agent in an al-Qaeda cell. During a religious celebration the agent heard people suspected of being linked to...

The Abu Hafs Brigades who claimed responsibilty for the two London bombing attacks published a fresh warning Monday, July 25 on their internet web site.'After London, it is now Rome's turn.' An earlier warning by the same group gave Denmark, the Netherlands and the UK and Italy until August 15 to pull their soliders out of Iraq. The Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was warned that by failing to withdraw Italian coalition troops from Iraq, he would 'by his own hand turn Rome into a graveyard.' The statement threatens the Italian capital with harsher and more painful strikes than the...

Mass arrests made in Milan swoops Italy has boosted anti-terror measures after the London attacks Italian police have arrested 142 people as part of a two-day anti-terror operation in and around Milan.One and a half kilos (3.3 pounds) of explosive were found, reports say. Some 2,000 Carabinieri police took part in the raid, aimed at boosting security at sensitive locations such as underground and train stations. An internet claim of responsibility for the London bombings threatened Italy and Denmark with similar attacks, but its credibility has been questioned. Gen Antonio Girone, the regional Carabinieri commander, said security forces had...

Italian police have arrested 142 people as part of a two-day anti-terror operation in and around Milan. One and a half kilos (3.3 pounds) of explosive were found, reports say. Some 2,000 Carabinieri police took part in the raid, aimed at boosting security at sensitive locations such as underground and train stations. An internet claim of responsibility for the London bombings threatened Italy and Denmark with similar attacks, but its credibility has been questioned. Gen Antonio Girone, the regional Carabinieri commander, said security forces had concentrated on Milan because it was a "prime target for possible terrorist action". Some 7,000...