Italy Arrests Al-Qaeda Cell Plotting Vatican Attack
Local Editor
Italian police were arresting 18 people Friday suspected of belonging to an armed group linked to al-Qaeda who were plotting attacks on the Vatican as well as in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Some of the suspects, who are all Pakistanis and Afghans, were arrested in early morning raids across Italy. Police burst into the home of the group's suspected spiritual leader, in the northern city of Bergamo, a video released by them showed.
Though the suspects were plotting attacks mainly in their native countries, phone taps suggest the Vatican was also a target, said Mauro Mura, chief prosecutor of the Sardinian city of Cagliari, where the group based its headquarters.
In the taped conversations, the suspects discuss "a big "jihad" in Italy," added Mario Carta, head of the police unit on the case. They reference the word "baba," which could mean the pope, Carta said.
"We don't have proof, we have strong suspicion," that the Vatican was a possible target, he added.
Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said the hypothetical attacks were in the past, and that the new disclosures were not a matter for concern.
Italy, like other European countries, has been on heightened alert for possible terrorist schemes in the wake of the January attack in France.
European capitals are particularly worried about possible "sleeper" militants, apparently living normal lives in their countries, who may at some point in the future be activated to stage attacks at home or abroad.
Italian officials are also concerned that members of terrorist groups might be hiding among the thousands of migrants who arrive in desperate state on Europe's shores every week.
Outlining the investigation at the news conference, Mura said the group had a large number of weapons and numerous followers willing to carry out acts of terrorism.
The group supported the "armed struggle against the West," and wanted to incite a popular uprising against the Pakistani government so it would stop its backing of US forces in Afghanistan.
Some of those under investigation were believed to be involved in attacks that have already taken place in Pakistan, including one that killed more than 100 people in a market in the northwestern frontier city of Peshawar in 2009, the police added.
The group arranged for Pakistanis and Afghans to get into Italy under work contracts or as refugees seeking asylum and later sent some to cities in northern Europe, police said.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
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