http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3698307.stm
BBC - 5-9-2004
Italy 'foils Iraq suicide plot'
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 but has spread to the Tuscan
capital, Florence.
In the latest raids, police searched a mosque in Florence and a number
of homes.
"We have dismantled a cell of Ansar al-Islam
Oscar Fiorolli Italian police chief
"We have dismantled a cell of Ansar al-Islam," police chief Oscar
Fiorolli was quoted as saying. The group is suspected of being behind
attacks on coalition targets in Iraq.
A local imam was the alleged ringleader, Italian police said.
In recent years police investigations in Italy have found evidence
that Islamic terrorist groups have used the country to get false
documents and provide hiding places for members, our Rome
correspondent says.
Mosques in various cities have been searched in connection with these
inquiries, she says.
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( W W P D ) - What Would Patton Do?
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