Reports: Police Arrest 142 People in Security Sweep Around Milan

AP ^ | Jul 9, 2005

[phoenix_004]

ROME (AP) - Police arrested 142 people in a two-day anti-terrorism security sweep around Milan prompted by the London bombings, the ANSA news agency reported Saturday. Some 2,000 carabinieri paramilitary police fanned out across the Lombardy region, stepping up patrols around train stations, subways and other sensitive sites, ANSA said, quoting the regional commander of the carabinieri, Gen. Antonio Girone.

Girone said the operation was focusing around Milan as "a possible primary objective of any possible terrorist action," ANSA said. Calls placed to Girone's office weren't immediately returned Saturday.

Of those arrested, 83 were immigrants and authorities issued 52 deportation orders, ANSA said.

The operation was one of the most visible signs of stepped-up security measures around Italy following Thursday's attacks in London and threats that Italy might be targeted as well for its support of the U.S.-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

[gopwinsin04]

Wow. The cockroaches are scurrying for cover!

[Trust but Verify]

Good for them. It now appears that Britain had a known terrorist right under their noses and failed to deport or otherwise neutralize him. The result: Thursday's attacks.

[Patriot from Philly]

I mentioned this in another post but it bears repeating. Milan's prosecutors, judges, and police logged a lot of hours investigating a CIA team that took a cleric/terrorist off their streets. It is refreshing that they've returned to hunting the real enemy.

[AFPhys]

Britain has, unfortunately, had thousands of known radical Islamofascists being given protection from prosecution for a decade now. They have to re-evaluate their policy.

Time to arrest, render very swift judgment, and execute.

[crowman]

Sad to hear that Tony Blair is telling the BBC that lack of Mideast solutions is cause of London attacks...You could move um all to Beverly Hills and they'd still believe in a jihad of death for the West...It's a lame excuse and Blair should know it by now...

[tomahawk]

If Blair said that, then he is a fool.

I'd prefer to believe he isn't and is just saying this to put blame elsewhere.

[tessalu]

Good for Italy! They are not going to sit around and hump up and wait to be killed like Britian and the USA!

When you know the source of evil in your country, it is time to get rid of it before it gets you. Nations who invite Muslims in, are just inviting terrorism and death to the people of their nations. It is time to stop it!

[tessalu]

The evil ones can make enough excuses for their murdereous acts with out Blair trying to help them out. I am disgusted with the way that Western leaders pretend handle this.
They are just encouraging more trouble. Blair and Bush have there heads to the ground and their rear in the air, just waiting for some more trouble.

[crowman]

The comments by Blair are found on Bloomberg.com,,,News & Commentary-UK,,,Prime Minister Blair Comments on London Attacks on BBC Radio 4

Blair's a good man, I just can't stand hearing any PC excuses....

[piasa]

Don't praise them too highly- the Milan Cell - er, cells- have been known to exist for a long, long time and a lot of Italian leftwingers have been rooting them on.

* Mullah Abderrazzak : a Tunisian member of the Ansar al-Islam terrorist group. Beginning ... January 2002 and continuing through the first week of the war [March 2003] , Mullah Abderrazzak made satellite telephone calls from Syria to Milan-based Islamic terrorists, according to court papers filed in Milan. Mullah Abderrazzak wanted the terrorists to leave Europe and join the jihad against U.S. and British troops in Iraq, an Italian antiterror investigator tells TIME, and coordinated the movements of an alleged Milan-based terrorist cell. "He's directing everything from Syria," the investigator says.
Abderrazzak's location doesn't prove the Syrian government is knowingly harboring him, but the investigator argues that "activity like this can't happen without [Syria's] security service knowing." - "DIALING DAMASCUS: Is Syria harboring Ansar al-Islam?," TIME Europe , April 13, 2003

[piasa]

* Nabil Benattia : Tunisian. Benattia was a frequent visitor to the Islamic center in Milan, Italy according to his lawyer. Was arrested in Milan in November in connection with an investigation of the city's mosque and Islamic cultural center. U.S. authorities have described the center as the main al-Qaida station house in Europe.----- "Italy: Judge Indicts Three North Africans (connected to al-Qaeda)," AP via Europe Daily , July 18 2002

* Yassine Chekkouri : Moroccan. Chekkouri worked as the Islamic cultural center's librarian in Milan, Italy. Chekkouri also worked at the Milan mosque, according to Benattia's lawyer. Was arrested in Milan in November in connection with an investigation of the city's mosque and Islamic cultural center. U.S. authorities have described the center as the main al-Qaida station house in Europe.- "Italy: Judge Indicts Three North Africans (connected to al-Qaeda)," AP via Europe Daily , July 18 2002

[piasa]

* Mohamed Daki : Moroccan. He is 38, has an address in the N Italian city of Reggio Emilia since he arrived from Hamburg, Germany in January 2003. He is accused of links to a top al-Qaeda operative. According to the charge sheet, Daki had contacts with Ramzi Binalshibh, an alleged lieutenant of Osama bin Laden credited with planning the September 11, 2001 attacks on the US. He is accused of organising a "cell" comprising six other men, who were arrested on April 1, and accused of "plotting with the aim of carrying out acts of violence linked to international terrorism, including in states other than Italy". - "Al-Qaeda suspect arrested in Italy," The Daily Telegraph, April 11 2003
The fifth arrest [of members of the Milan Cell run by Mullah Abderrazzak] was announced last week after police captured Mohamed Daki, a 38-year-old Moroccan, in the northern town of Reggio Emilia, and charged him with being part of a terror operation. Daki, who had been based in Hamburg until January, is also said to have lived for a year with Ramzi Binalshibh, the al-Qaeda ringleader nabbed last year in Pakistan. Investigators say Daki also had encounters with Mohamed Atta, the Egyptian who led the Sept. 11 attacks. - "DIALING DAMASCUS: Is Syria harboring Ansar al-Islam?," TIME Europe , April 13, 2003

[piasa]

* Abdelhalim Hafed Remadna : Algerian. Remadna was the secretary of the Islamic cultural center's librarian in Milan, Italy. Remadna also worked at the Milan mosque, according to Benattia's lawyer. Was arrested in Milan in November in connection with an investigation of the city's mosque and Islamic cultural center. U.S. authorities have described the center as the main al-Qaida station house in Europe.- "Italy: Judge Indicts Three North Africans (connected to al-Qaeda)," AP via Europe Daily , July 18 2002

[piasa]

* Abdelkader Mahmoud Es Sayed aka Abu Saleh : Egyptian. Allegedly head of al Qaeda's Documentation Committee, also head of the Milan Cell, according to Italian police reports. Abu Saleh, who was convicted of murder in absentia in the November 1997 killings of 58 foreign tourists in Luxor, Egypt, a popular sightseeing destination, reputedly enjoyed close ties to the highest levels of the al-Qaida command. The most intriguing reference is the statement that "more than once" during the investigation, an increasingly nervous Abu Saleh was overheard expressing his intentions "to permanently leave our country," but explaining to associates "that he had been convinced to remain in Milan by an 'unspecified American man.' " Investigators said they have been unable to identify the individual to whom Abu Saleh referred.
----- "Milan cell linked to al-Qaida operatives, " By John Crewdson and Tom Hundley, Chicago Tribune via Seattle Times June 30, 2002
An Egyptian national, [Es Sayed] was in Italy last year (2001) but left two months before the Sept. 11 attacks. U.S. officials describe him as the organizer of al-Qaida's Milan cell. Italian authorities believe he may have died fighting for bin Laden in Afghanistan. - "Italy: Judge Indicts Three North Africans (connected to al-Qaeda)," AP via Europe Daily , July 18 2002
* Egyptian terrorist, [Es-Sayed] headed al-Qaida's documentation committee. He was convicted of murder in absentia in the November 1997 killings of 58 foreign tourists in Luxor, Egypt, a popular sightseeing destination. According to lengthy police reports prepared for anti-terrorism prosecutors in Italy, the Milan operation was headed by Es Sayed.- "4 arrests for terrorism in Italy, " Straits Times , October 10, 2002

[piasa]

* ? aka Zarqawi's Top Lieutenant : The Italian investigation benefited from intelligence passed on by U.S. authorities, who in December provided numbers of half a dozen Thuraya satellite phones used by suspects in Iraq. Among them was one used by Zarqawi's top lieutenant at the Ansar camps, documents show. U.S. and Italian investigators determined that the suspects in Italy repeatedly communicated with the alleged terrorists using the satellite phones in the Ansar stronghold. - "Ansar al Islam's European connection : A Road to Ansar Began in Italy," By Sebastian Rotella, Times Staff Writer, THE LOS ANGELES TIMES , Second of two parts  April 27, 2003, Times staff writer Jeffrey Fleishman, in northern Iraq, contributed to this report.

* Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi : Leader of the terrorist organization Ansar al-Islam. Zarqawi is an important member of al Qaeda.- "Al-Qaeda suspect arrested in Italy," The Daily Telegraph, April 11 2003
A top Al Qaeda figure. Zarqawi, 36, once ran his own training camp in Herat, Afghanistan, where militants learned to use chemical and biological weapons. His network allegedly includes Algerian combat veterans who trained in Chechnya and Jordanian gunmen who killed a representative of the U.S. Agency for International Development in Amman, Jordan, last year.
Investigators say Zarqawi has considerable autonomy from Bin Laden — and an obsession with Israeli targets because of his Palestinian-Jordanian background. - "Ansar al Islam's European connection : A Road to Ansar Began in Italy," By Sebastian Rotella, Times Staff Writer, THE LOS ANGELES TIMES , Second of two parts  April 27, 2003, Times staff writer Jeffrey Fleishman, in northern Iraq, contributed to this report.

[piasa]

* Islamic center in Milan, Italy : Nabil Benattia was a frequent visitor to this center, according to his lawyer. Yassine Chekkouri worked as the Islamic cultural center's librarian; Abdelhalim Hafed Remadna was the secretary of the Islamic cultural center's librarian Yassine Chekkouri. All three were arrested in November 2001 in connection with an investigation of this center. U.S. authorities have described the center as the main al-Qaida station house in Europe.- "Italy: Judge Indicts Three North Africans (connected to al-Qaeda)," AP via Europe Daily , July 18 2002

* Via Quaranta (in Milan) : Under investigation by Italian police. Yassine Chekkouri and Abdelhalim Hafed Remadna worked at the Milan mosque, according to Nabil Benattia's lawyer. - "Italy: Judge Indicts Three North Africans (connected to al-Qaeda)," AP via Europe Daily , July 18 2002
The Via Quaranta mosque and another on Milan's Viale Jenner have been bases for terrorist recruitment and logistics since the late 1990s, according to police. Investigations led by prosecutor Stefano Dambruoso have resulted in a dozen arrests and eight convictions of extremists affiliated with the mosques. Nonetheless, during the last year, the two mosques became pivotal to the gradual restructuring of European networks under the command of Zarqawi, authorities say. - "Ansar al Islam's European connection : A Road to Ansar Began in Italy," By Sebastian Rotella, Times Staff Writer, THE LOS ANGELES TIMES , Second of two parts  April 27, 2003, Times staff writer Jeffrey Fleishman, in northern Iraq, contributed to this report.

* Mosque on Milan's Viale Jenner : The Via Quaranta mosque and another on Milan's Viale Jenner become pivotal to the gradual restructuring of European [terrorist] networks under the command of Zarqawi, authorities say. His network allegedly includes Algerian combat veterans who trained in Chechnya and Jordanian gunmen who killed a representative of the U.S. Agency for International Development in Amman, Jordan in 2002. - "Ansar al Islam's European connection : A Road to Ansar Began in Italy," By Sebastian Rotella, Times Staff Writer, THE LOS ANGELES TIMES , Second of two parts  April 27, 2003, Times staff writer Jeffrey Fleishman, in northern Iraq, contributed to this report.

* Mosque in Cremona, Italy : Noureddine Drissi was the librarian of a mosque in Cremona, Italy. Mourad Trabelsi, a Tunisian, was an imam in the Cremona Mosque who recruited fighters for Ansar al-Islam in Iraq. - "Ansar al Islam's European connection : A Road to Ansar Began in Italy," By Sebastian Rotella, Times Staff Writer, THE LOS ANGELES TIMES , Second of two parts  April 27, 2003, Times staff writer Jeffrey Fleishman, in northern Iraq, contributed to this report.

[piasa]

* Frans Van Anraat: Prosecutors said on Tuesday they will charge a Dutch chemicals dealer as an accomplice to genocide for supplying Saddam Hussein with lethal chemicals used in the 1988 chemical attack on a Kurdish town that killed an estimated 5,000 civilians.
Wim de Bruin of the national prosecutor's office said the suspect, who was arrested in Amsterdam on Monday, will face charges ''for violating the laws of war and involvement in genocide.''
Prosecutors said Frans van Anraat, a 62-year-old chemicals dealer, had been a suspect since 1989, when he was arrested in Milan, Italy, at the request of the U.S. government. But he was later released and fled to Iraq, where he remained until 2003. After the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003, he returned to the Netherlands via Syria.
''The man is suspected of delivering thousands of tons of raw materials for chemical weapons to the former regime in Baghdad between 1984 and 1988,'' prosecutors said in a statement.(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ..
---------- "Dutch to prosecute man for allegedly supplying Saddam Hussein with lethal chemicals [Halabja]," by Toby Sterling, AP via Boston.com, 12-07-04

[piasa]

Dutchman Suspected of Aiding Saddam in War Crimes is Arrested [http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1296698/posts ]

[piasa]

FEBRUARY 2003 : (DUTCH CHEMICALS DEALER FRANS VAN A aka FRANS VAN ANRAAT IS PROBABLY HIDING IN BAGHDAD; DUTCH AIVD & US CIA ARE HUNTING FOR HIM - See WMD, HALABJA) According to security services, a Dutch chemist is suspected to have been involved with the banned weapons program of Saddam Hussein. It is the 60 year old Frans van A. from Den Helder. This was reported by the newspaper 'De Telegraaf' on Saturday.
Van A. is probebly hiding in Baghdad, heavily guarded by the Iraqi Republican Guards. He has been under surveillance by the Dutch security service AIVD for several years. According to the AIVD, it is an 'unique situation', because Van A. is one of the few foreigners that has intensive contacts to the regime of Saddam Hussein.
Also the CIA is looking for the Dutchman. The from Den Helder originating man has delivered large quantities of thiodiglycol to Baghdad, according to the CIA and AIVD. This is one of the basic chemicals for the deadly musterd gas. In 1988 Saddam Hussein attacked the Kurdish city Halabja, killing 5.000 civilians.--------- "Dutch national involved with weaponsprogram Iraq (delivering chemicals to produce musterdgas)," Nu.nl, Februari 08 2003

[Cindy]

Thanks piasa.
I missed this one.

[Fedora]

Thanks for the info!

They should arrest Vince Cannistraro while they're at it if he's still in Italy.