Italien spränger jihadistcell

Italienska polisen har idag sprängt en

stor jihadistisk cell i Nord-Italien.

Fyra tunisier och en marockan har

gripits och fler efterspanas.

Cellen har värvat islamister till jihad

i Afghanistan och Irak.

De nordafrikanska islamisterna har bl a

sysslat med försäkringsbedrägerier i

stor skala som använts till att finansiera

islamistisk verksamhet i Bosnien:

***

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 euros (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 euros

(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.

(IHT)