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ROME - Police arrested 142 people in a two-day anti-terrorism security sweep around Milan prompted by the London bombings, the ANSA news agency reported Saturday. ADVERTISEMENT Some 2,000 carabinieri paramilitary police fanned out across the Lombardy region, stepping up patrols around train stations, subways and other sensitive sites, ANSA said, quoting the regional commander of the carabinieri, Gen. Antonio Girone. Girone said the operation was focusing around Milan as "a possible primary objective of any possible terrorist action," ANSA said. Calls placed to Girone's office weren't immediately returned Saturday. Of those arrested, 83 were immigrants and authorities issued 52 deportation...

ROME (AP) - Police arrested 142 people in a two-day anti-terrorism security sweep around Milan prompted by the London bombings, the ANSA news agency reported Saturday. Some 2,000 carabinieri paramilitary police fanned out across the Lombardy region, stepping up patrols around train stations, subways and other sensitive sites, ANSA said, quoting the regional commander of the carabinieri, Gen. Antonio Girone. Girone said the operation was focusing around Milan as "a possible primary objective of any possible terrorist action," ANSA said. Calls placed to Girone's office weren't immediately returned Saturday. Of those arrested, 83 were immigrants and authorities issued 52 deportation...

Rome, 8 July (AKI) - After the coordinated bombings of central London's transport system on Thursday, Italy - one of the countries with the largest number of troops in Iraq - could be al-Qaeda's next target, Italy's interior minister Giuseppe Pisanu said on Friday. Anti-terror surveillance of military, government buildings, tranport hubs, strategic industries, as well as schools, hospitals and other "soft" targets has been stepped up since the attacks on the British capital, he said. "We need nerves of steel, and to have faith in the force of democracy, in the knowledge that the terrorist threat has returned to...

A GROUP claiming links to al-Qaeda threatened to attack Rome to punish Italy for supporting the United States, and praised the bomb blasts in London, a website statement said today. The statement did not appear on Web sites normally used by Islamist militants loyal to al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. "We warn Rome, the capital of infidels, that the lions of Jihad in Europe are ready to launch strong strikes against the collaborating government with the crusaders, the Americans, the enemies of God, the Prophet and Muslims," it said. Advertisement: "With the help of God, a group of honourable mujahideen...

A group said to be linked to al-Qaeda has warned Italy to expect attacks if a deadline to withdraw troops from Iraq is not met. The Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades said its cells in Rome and other Italian cities were "prepared and ready to carry out their mission" after 15 August. "You won't feel safe in your homes. Each place will be a target," it warned in a statement on its website. Last weekend, the group gave Italy 15 days to withdraw its forces from Iraq. The Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades has previously issued threats against European countries for not...

DUBAI (Reuters) - A militant group claiming links to al Qaeda said on Saturday its cells in Italy were ready to strike if the country did not withdraw troops from Iraq before an August 15 deadline it set a week ago. "The truce we had offered you ... to withdraw your troops has almost ended. Our cells in Rome and in all other Italian cities are prepared and ready to carry out their mission after the end of the truce on the 15th of this month," said a statement signed by Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades -- al Qaeda Organization. "You...

A group of Islamic militants claiming to have ties with al-Qaeda has given the government of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi 15 days to withdraw from Iraq. In a statement signed by the Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades, the group said its cells were preparing to carry out attacks in Rome and other Italian cities. The group had posted a similar message to European governments several days ago, warning that Italy would be the first target. Prime Minister Berlusconi is one of the United States' most loyal allies.

A group claiming links to the al-Qaida terrorism network has renewed its threats to attack Italy if that country does not withdraw its troops from Iraq. The Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigade Sunday sent an e-mail to a London-based Arabic newspaper warning it will - in the words of the message - shake and burn Italy if that country does not withdraw its Iraq contingent within 15 days. As with previous group threats, officials could not authenticate the warning. Two weeks ago, the group threatened violence if Italy did not remove Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi from office and respond to a...

A group calling itself the European branch of al Qaeda threatened to turn Australia and Italy into hellish "pools of blood" if the two nations did not withdraw their troops from Iraq, while a growing wave of kidnappings swept the country yesterday.

A message issued by an Islamist web page calls on Italy to withdraw its troops and threatens car bomb attacks. The text asks the Italian people to use mass demonstrations to force their government to withdraw peacefully from Iraq. Furthermore, the group, which identifies itself as a member of Osama bin Laden’s network, adds that if the Italian government does not obey, the response will be car bombs. It has not been possible to verify the authenticity of the message. The same web page (“Ansarnet”) published another message on Friday, signed by the “Abu Hafs Al Masri Brigade,” threatening Italy...

ROME Italian investigators are looking into a second ring of suspected terrorists who may have been plotting a chemical weapons assault on Rome. An Algerian, a Pakistani, a Tunisian and three Iraqis were arrested in early morning raids Friday. A group of Moroccans was arrested last month with a map of the U.S. Embassy and large quantities of a cyanide compound that experts say could have been turned into a deadly gas. The ring busted Friday is thought to be completely independent of the Moroccans, officials said, although both likely have ties to Al Qaeda's network of terror. Investigators said ...

ROME - Anti-terrorism police arrested the Algerian cleric of a mosque and four Tunisians Sunday in a crackdown authorities said was aimed at preventing an al-Qaida-linked cell from sending suicide attackers to Iraq (news - web sites). The suspects were seized in pre-dawn raids in three cities in the northern Tuscany region, Genoa's Police Chief Oscar Fiorolli said. Genoa, a northern port city, began the investigations that led to the arrests. The suspects allegedly belonged to a cell of Ansar al-Islam, an organization based in northern Iraq with links to al-Qaida, Fiorolli told the Associated Press in Rome in a...

Italy 'foils Iraq suicide plot' Italy is often used as a logistical base Italian police say they have arrested an Algerian imam and four Tunisians suspected of planning suicide attacks against Western targets in Iraq. The men were seized in a series of raids in Florence and the province of Liguria - which were still ongoing. The raids were part of an investigation into the Islamic militant group, Ansar al-Islam, police said. They say Islamic terrorist groups have used Italy as a logistical base, says the BBC's Frances Kennedy in Rome. Cell 'destroyed'The probe began in Genoa two years ago...

Five arrested in Italy anti-terror swoop. 09/05/2004. ABC News Online [This is the print version of story http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s1104514.htm] Last Update: Sunday, May 9, 2004. 5:26pm (AEST) Five arrested in Italy anti-terror swoop Italian anti-terrorist police say they have arrested five suspected Islamic extremists in Florence overnight and are conducting a series of searches elsewhere in Tuscany and Liguria. Police say the five were Tunisian and Algerian nationals suspected of links to Al Qaeda. Authorities say they belonged to the outlawed Ansar al Islam and were involved in recruiting suicide bombers to carry out attacks against Western targets in Iraq. The...

Italian Mafia tied to Islamic terrorists Associated Press ROME - Italian mobsters and Islamic terrorist groups have forged links in arms and drug trafficking, Italy's top anti-Mafia investigator said. Pierluigi Vigna, Italy's national anti-Mafia prosecutor, singled out a Naples mob known as the Camorra, which deals in arms and drugs, among other rackets. "There are ties without doubt," Vigna told reporters Monday at a briefing at the Foreign Press Association. "We have evidence that Camorra groups are implicated in exchange of arms for drugs with terrorist groups," Vigna said. Asked if these were Islamic terrorist groups, he replied, "Muslim terrorist...

ROME - Videotapes of a key al-Qaida suspect urging followers to destroy Rome have reportedly been found by Italian police, heightening concerns about security in Italy and at the Vatican ahead of Easter. Tapes featuring Abu Qatada, a radical Muslim cleric named by Britain as the spiritual inspiration for the lead Sept. 11 hijacker, were found during recent raids in the northern Italian town of Cremona, weekly news magazine Panorama reported on Friday.

ITALIAN POLICE SWOOP ON TERROR SUSPECTS 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...

Wednesday March 24, 2004 TERRORISM: ANCONA PORT CROSSROADS FOR AL QAEDA TRAFFICKING (AGI) - Ancona, Italy, March 22 - Al Qaeds was still missing from the list of those who exploit Ancona's harbour for illegal trafficking to eastern Europe, but the Spanish police put the last piece of the puzzle during its investigations on the 3/11 attack in Madrid, even discovering that the harbour was, in 1995, the crossroads for Bin Laden's men, who then went to Bosnia to get trained and then reach the cells scattered around Europe. The chief of the local attorney office, Vincenzo Luzi, pointed out...

Terror suspects arrested in Italy Milan's Duomo cathedral may have been a terrorist target, reports say Italian police have arrested three North Africans suspected of plotting to bomb Milan's metro and a cathedral in the north of the country. Arrest warrants had been issued for five men from Morocco and Tunisia, who served as Muslim religious leaders in the city of Cremona. The suspected cell members are under investigation for conspiracy to commit "international terrorism". The arrests are part of a wider effort against militants in northern Italy. Investigators say the region is home to Muslim groups with possible links...

ROME - Italy has become a departure point for suicide attackers linked to al-Qaida and active against U.S.-led forces in Iraq, according to an Italian intelligence report released Tuesday. The document also warned that forces staging anti-coalition attacks in Iraq might expand their scope and targets. In December, Italian investigators said they shut down a European network suspected of recruiting Islamic militants to carry out attacks on U.S.-led forces in Iraq. The investigators said the volunteers were drawn from Muslim youths living on the fringes of society in Western Europe, including Italy. Evidence gathered over the past six months shows...