Plotted attack foiled in Italy:
The arrest in Italy of 4 Moroccans with ties to Al- Qaida, who were preparing a cyanide attack in the Italian capital, confirms the menace of new attacks in the world.
(Put on line on Feb. 20, 2002)
Several days of tailing the suspects were necessary. The 4 men were arrested when the authorities were sure that the suspected terrorists were in possession of 4 kilos of a product with a cyanide base. The Moroccans had plans for Rome. The site of the American Embassy was underlined in one; the other reproduced in detail the network through which water is distributed. The 4 kilos could have caused a massacre, according to the Italian press.
Plotters are presumed linked to al-Qaida
The 4 Moroccans, between the ages of 30 and 40, were arrested Tuesday, at dawn, at an apartment south of downtown by the national police. Their arrest came after that of 3 other Moroccans, questioned in Rome several days ago in the course of an investigation by anti- terrorist police units and Italian intelligence services on Muslim extremist groups in the midst of the capital. The 4 terrorists are at least presumed to have ties to the terrorists arrested in the preceding months in Milan, who are now being tried.
Tuesday, the minister of the interior, Mr. Scajola, presented the results obtained by the authorities in the fight against different forms of criminality and terrorism. He announced that "20 persons tied to Muslim extremist groups" had been arrested in Italy since September 11th, and that 82 bank accounts with deposits of about 345 million Euros had been frozen. (My translation) |
