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Eurabia Alert. "Italy: 5 arrested on suspicion of planning attacks," by Ariel David for the Associated Press, August 9:
ROME - Police broke up a suspected terror cell Saturday and arrested five North Africans, including the alleged leader who Italian officials said recruited Islamic extremists for attacks in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Authorities also suspect the cell sent tens of thousands of dollars to groups in Bosnia that offer training and logistical support to Iraqi and Afghan terror organizations, said Claudio Galzerano, head of the Italian police force's international terrorism division.
Police arrested the five suspects — four Tunisians and one Moroccan — in Bologna and the nearby towns of Faenza and Imola, Galzerano said. They were accused of international terrorism, but have yet to be formally charged, he said. A sixth suspect was still being sought.
Galzerano said those arrested include alleged Tunisian ringleader Khalil Jarraya, a veteran of Bosnia's 1992-95 war, and four others he allegedly recruited for suicide attacks in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Galzerano said Jarraya, who also has received Bosnian citizenship, may have recruited others already sent abroad.
The arrests followed a three-year investigation based on wiretaps and on training material found in previous searches of the suspects' homes.
"In the telephone intercepts they always were extremely satisfied when someone blew himself up," Galzerano told The Associated Press by telephone from Bologna. "These are people who were radicalized in the West and declared themselves ready to become 'martyrs' for jihad."
Galzerano said the cell sent tens of thousands of dollars to Bosnian groups linked to terrorist organizations in Iraq and Afghanistan. He said the money came from the legitimate work of the group's members as well as from insurance scams, for which a charge of fraud was added to the arrest warrants.
The cell was not part of any specific terrorist organization, but saw itself as close to al-Qaida, Galzerano said.
Investigators have long considered Italy a logistical base where terror groups seek recruits and financing. After the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States, the country introduced the charge of international terrorism, which can carry a sentence of up to 15 years jail.
Posted by Marisol at August 9, 2008 9:38 AM
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Will there be a need for spy planes in Italy - just like Britain?
Posted by: miira![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jihadwatch.org/nav-commenters.gif)
at August 9, 2008 10:00 AM
"in Bologna and the nearby towns of Faenza and Imola"
-- from the article above
Imola had a good war (it was full of anti-Fascist partisans), and has a famous track where car-races are held, but it sticks in the mind most because it is the "I" in the Italian spelling-out alphabet.
That is the alphabet that we all use, in every language, whenever we have a bad connection on the telephone, or don't quite trust the grasp of English of the person on the other end, to whom we are imparting a name or an address, and so we say "'B' as in Boston" and "'N' as in Nancy."
The one most commonly used in Italy (there are several versions) is based on the names of Italian cities and towns:
Ancona Bologna Como Domodossola Empoli Firenze Genova Hotel (or Acca, sometimes spelled for this purpose "Hacca") Imola, etc.
Now Imola can be famous for one more thing. A place where Muslim terrorists hide out, and plan the death and destruction of Infidels.
Within a very few years, I'm sure that every city and town listed on that spelling-out alphabet will have found to have harbored Muslim terrorists. Bologna and Firenze and Milano and Torino are already on that list. Now Imola.
Which city or town is next?
at August 9, 2008 10:22 AM
Bosnia again... Thank you Bill Clinton, good job!
Posted by: LazarOfSerbia at August 9, 2008 11:08 AM
Italy has an extra problem with Islamic terrorists for the reason being that about half of all the great visual art in the world is in that country (the rest of the world has the other half) and a lot of it is very Christian and, even in some instances, derisive of Islam (just as Dante was). Numerous Islamic terrorists over the years have made all kinds of threats about destroying this priceless heritage. Vigilance is the order of the day because it would be a tragedy of the first order if art was destroyed by Islamic barbarians, which, of course, has been going on for some 1400 years, the latest and most notable installment of which is the destruction of those monumental Buddhist statues in Afghanistan by the Taliban thugs. Ah, the burden to the entire world which is Islam continues unabated.
Posted by: Wellington at August 9, 2008 1:48 PM
Protect the Vatican.
Posted by: PMK at August 9, 2008 3:45 PM
I listened to the BBC World Service. They repeated, three times this afternoon, the story of this Italian arrest of five men. They were never, not once, described as Muslims. The word "Islam" was not once mentioned. They were only "five North Africans" from Tunisia and Morocco. That was it.
Clearly there is a policy that is being enforced, from the top down, at the BBC World Service. Who is going to look into this policy? Who is going to do something to make heads roll, and news readers change what they do, or be shown the door, and permanently, at Bush House?
Posted by: Hugh at August 9, 2008 5:06 PM
Meanwhile, according to yesterday's La Repubblica, Al Jazeera, that combination of Radio Berlin and TASS, published an article denouncing the city of Padova for "racism" because a few Arabs claim that the locals will not hire them, considering North African immigrants too heavily mixed up with drugs and other sorts of criminal activity. Since everyone up and down the boot knows perfectly well that North Africans, and other Arabs, are mixed up in all sorts of criminal activities, Al Jazeera should have found out a bit more about that before transmitting to its hysterical and devout listeners accusations that this constitutes "racism."
The mayor of Padova was furious about the shobby journalism. No one, he said, not a soul, from Al Jazeera had contacted him or, indeed, anyone else in the administration of the city of Padova. It was all a trumped-up charge. Meanwhile, he saw fit -- it was a pity that he did -- to explain that in Padova a large new mosque was going up, that the city had donated land and buildings for other Muslim structures, and othewise offered the litany of things designed to show how well-treated Muslims are. There is no need to do that. It is a very bad idea to do that -- to protest that Muslims are treated well. Forget about Muslims. Insist that your task is to protect the people and institutions and art and civilization of Italy, against those who may have managed to be on Italian soil, as a matter of geography, but who threaten those people, those institutions, that art, that civilization, and who had either better change, or leave. There is no other way.
Posted by: Hugh at August 9, 2008 8:46 PM
A propos the city of Padova, known to English speakers as Padua, and its current mayor who is so dismayingly anxious to please Muslims, Catholics might like to invoke St Anthony of Padua, who though not born in the city
http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=24
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01556a.htm
has become immovably associated with it.
He is, apparently, in charge of the heavenly 'lost and found', being referred to as 'the finder of lost articles'.
Perhaps St Anthony might be politely encouraged to pray in order that persons such as the modern mayor of Padua and its citizens, suffering from Saracen/ Mohammedan invasion, may recover the courage, faith and common sense that they appear to have lost.
Interestingly, St Anthony's original ambition in life was, it appears, to preach the gospel to the Saracens (i.e. the Muslims).
Posted by: dumbledoresarmy at August 10, 2008 12:55 AM
"Interestingly, St Anthony's original ambition in life was, it appears, to preach the gospel to the Saracens (i.e. the Muslims)."
Posted by: dumbledoresarmy
He probably had a more attentive audience in the fishes.
Posted by: Abscedere at August 10, 2008 9:55 AM
But if they did not hut anyone yet then they should be set free on false alarm. These are peace loving muslims. If the 911 attckers were caught on 910 they would have all been set free within days.
Posted by: American at August 11, 2008 9:48 AM
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