tiggerlover
Still waiting for "the talk"
- Joined
- Jan 29, 2000
- Messages
- 10,314
Here's the link to what is happening in my backyard. I pasted it below also.
http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe/01/23/italy.arrests.ap/index.html
Apparently these gentlemen had detailed maps of the base where we are stationed and the surrounding roads in and out of the city. It is pretty scary stuff.
Italy links arrests to terrorism
Thursday, January 23, 2003 Posted: 11:48 AM EST (1648 GMT)
ROME, Italy (AP) -- Italy's justice minister said Thursday the arrests of five Moroccans, detained during a raid that turned up explosives and maps reportedly marking churches and a NATO base, were related to Italy's fight against terrorism.
Justice Minister Roberto Castelli made the comments during a meeting Thursday with U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft.
Police on Wednesday arrested five Moroccan men near the northern city of Rovigo after discovering a kilogram (2.2 pounds) of explosives and maps highlighting Padua's Basilica del Santo and the NATO base in Verona in their apartment, the Italian news agency ANSA reported.
Carabinieri officials, who confirmed the discovery of explosives and maps, said at the time of the arrests they weren't speculating about possible terrorism-related activities. However, Castelli said the arrests were part of Italy's fight against terror.
"Even the facts of yesterday are testimony that our commitment isn't just theoretical but produces results," Castelli told reporters.
The U.S. Embassy was briefed on the arrests, an embassy source said. Italian authorities routinely brief American officials on operations concerning suspected terrorist activities, the source added.
Sofia Tiengo, the lawyer assigned to the five suspects, said her clients had so far only been charged with possessing explosives. She had not spoken to the suspects yet, but said that the two already interrogated by police denied all charges.
Italy has arrested dozens of people as part of its probe into militant Islamic cells operating in Italy, particularly in Milan and Bologna. Italian prosecutors say the cells provided logistical and other help to Osama bin Laden's operatives, including furnishing forged documents to people who eventually went on to train and fight in Afghanistan.
Ashcroft praised Italy's efforts so far.
"Indeed, the recent arrests and the list of convictions of those who have been involved in terrorism are tangible evidence of the fact that Italy takes terrorism seriously and fights it aggressively," he said.
The suspects included a religious leader of Rovigo's Muslim community, Reduane Bnoughazi, 32, and four other men aged 28-41, a police official said Thursday.
The official, who asked not to be identified, said the explosives were found during a routine search for illegal immigrants. The officer said the men were employed and were trying to obtain residency permits in Italy.
Several recent arrests in Italy's anti-terrorism campaign have occurred after apartment raids where police say they discovered explosives and maps, some designating suspected target areas.
In October, police arrested three Egyptians in Anzio, a port town south of Rome, after they said they found two kilograms (4.4 pounds) of explosives and a map indicating the U.S. military cemetery at Nettuno in the men's apartment.
The five people arrested in Wednesday's raid -- identified by police as Bnoughazi, Abdallah Mounder, Moustafa' El Bouhali, Amro Lahrajh and Kamal Ben Reddad -- were being questioned Thursday by prosecutors in Rovigo, near Padua in northern Italy.
http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe/01/23/italy.arrests.ap/index.html
Apparently these gentlemen had detailed maps of the base where we are stationed and the surrounding roads in and out of the city. It is pretty scary stuff.
Italy links arrests to terrorism
Thursday, January 23, 2003 Posted: 11:48 AM EST (1648 GMT)
ROME, Italy (AP) -- Italy's justice minister said Thursday the arrests of five Moroccans, detained during a raid that turned up explosives and maps reportedly marking churches and a NATO base, were related to Italy's fight against terrorism.
Justice Minister Roberto Castelli made the comments during a meeting Thursday with U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft.
Police on Wednesday arrested five Moroccan men near the northern city of Rovigo after discovering a kilogram (2.2 pounds) of explosives and maps highlighting Padua's Basilica del Santo and the NATO base in Verona in their apartment, the Italian news agency ANSA reported.
Carabinieri officials, who confirmed the discovery of explosives and maps, said at the time of the arrests they weren't speculating about possible terrorism-related activities. However, Castelli said the arrests were part of Italy's fight against terror.
"Even the facts of yesterday are testimony that our commitment isn't just theoretical but produces results," Castelli told reporters.
The U.S. Embassy was briefed on the arrests, an embassy source said. Italian authorities routinely brief American officials on operations concerning suspected terrorist activities, the source added.
Sofia Tiengo, the lawyer assigned to the five suspects, said her clients had so far only been charged with possessing explosives. She had not spoken to the suspects yet, but said that the two already interrogated by police denied all charges.
Italy has arrested dozens of people as part of its probe into militant Islamic cells operating in Italy, particularly in Milan and Bologna. Italian prosecutors say the cells provided logistical and other help to Osama bin Laden's operatives, including furnishing forged documents to people who eventually went on to train and fight in Afghanistan.
Ashcroft praised Italy's efforts so far.
"Indeed, the recent arrests and the list of convictions of those who have been involved in terrorism are tangible evidence of the fact that Italy takes terrorism seriously and fights it aggressively," he said.
The suspects included a religious leader of Rovigo's Muslim community, Reduane Bnoughazi, 32, and four other men aged 28-41, a police official said Thursday.
The official, who asked not to be identified, said the explosives were found during a routine search for illegal immigrants. The officer said the men were employed and were trying to obtain residency permits in Italy.
Several recent arrests in Italy's anti-terrorism campaign have occurred after apartment raids where police say they discovered explosives and maps, some designating suspected target areas.
In October, police arrested three Egyptians in Anzio, a port town south of Rome, after they said they found two kilograms (4.4 pounds) of explosives and a map indicating the U.S. military cemetery at Nettuno in the men's apartment.
The five people arrested in Wednesday's raid -- identified by police as Bnoughazi, Abdallah Mounder, Moustafa' El Bouhali, Amro Lahrajh and Kamal Ben Reddad -- were being questioned Thursday by prosecutors in Rovigo, near Padua in northern Italy.
