Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07ROME2504
2007-12-21 14:08:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Rome
Cable title:  

ITALY: 2007 COUNTRY REPORT ON TERRORISM

Tags:  PTER ASEC EFIN KCRM KHLS AEMR 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO7826
PP RUEHFL RUEHNP RUEHROV
DE RUEHRO #2504/01 3551408
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 211408Z DEC 07
FM AMEMBASSY ROME
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9590
INFO RUEHROV/AMEMBASSY VATICAN PRIORITY 0743
RUEHMIL/AMCONSUL MILAN PRIORITY 9167
RUEHFL/AMCONSUL FLORENCE PRIORITY 2826
RUEHNP/AMCONSUL NAPLES PRIORITY 2972
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ROME 002504 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR S/CT -- RHONDA SHORE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PTER ASEC EFIN KCRM KHLS AEMR
SUBJECT: ITALY: 2007 COUNTRY REPORT ON TERRORISM

REF: STATE 146856

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ROME 002504

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR S/CT -- RHONDA SHORE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PTER ASEC EFIN KCRM KHLS AEMR
SUBJECT: ITALY: 2007 COUNTRY REPORT ON TERRORISM

REF: STATE 146856


1. (U) The following is post's proposed text for the Italy
portion of the 2007 Country Reports on Terrorism.


2. (U) There were no successful large-scale terrorist attacks
in Italy in 2007. Italy aggressively investigated and
prosecuted terrorism suspects, dismantled terrorist-related
cells within its borders and maintained high-level
professional cooperation with its international partners.
U.S. counterterrorism cooperation with the Italian government
has remained excellent.

Italy's law enforcement and judicial authorities continued to
be engaged in counterterrorism efforts, with several
noteworthy cases during the reporting period. In June,
authorities issued arrest warrants in Milan for nine Tunisian
nationals, including Ben Khemais Essid Sami, for recruiting
militants in Italy for training in Afghanistan and providing
logistical and financial support for a Milan-based Salafist
terror cell from 1997 to 2001. In July, police arrested
three Moroccan nationals in Perugia on terrorism charges, the
culmination of a two-year investigation. The individuals,
who included the Imam of the local mosque, were in possession
of chemicals used in explosives-making and jihadist training
equipment.

In October, police arrested Iraqi national Saber Fadhil
Hussein on charges of leading a cell that sought to procure
ultralight aircraft and anti-tank rockets from Italian and
other sources for use in attacks against coalition forces in
Iraq. Also in October, a Milan court re-sentenced Mohammed
Daki, a Moroccan immigrant accused in 2003 of recruiting
suicide bombers for Iraq, to four years imprisonment in
absentia. (He had been expelled to Morocco in 2005 under the
so-called Pisanu decree allowing the Interior Ministry to
expel terror suspects). Maher Bouyahia and Ali Ben Saffi
Toumi, both Tunisian, were sentenced in the same ruling to
six years imprisonment, overturning a January 2005 decision
by a Milan judge that acquitted Daki and the others on the
grounds that they were "guerilla fighters" and not
terrorists.

In October, a Spanish court acquitted Rabei Osman Sayed

Ahmed, an Egyptian national currently serving an eight-year
prison term in Milan, of involvement in the Madrid train
bombings. This verdict does not affect his sentence in
Italy, where he was found guilty in 2006 of subversive
association aimed at international terrorism for having
recruited suicide bombers in Italy for Iraq. In November, as
part of an international sweep involving British, French and
Portuguese authorities, police arrested 11 suspects
(primarily Tunisians and Algerians) across Northern Italy and
charged them with having been members of a Milan-based cell
that recruited and sent suicide bombers to Iraq and
Afghanistan. In December, a Milan court convicted
Egyptian-born Imam Abu Imad and ten others of promoting jihad
and recruiting potential suicide bombers. The members of the
group received sentences ranging from two to ten years.

Domestic anarchist-inspired and extreme-left terrorist groups
presented a continued (albeit small-scale) threat despite
Italian authorities' continued efforts to dismantle their
organizations. In February, in a string of simultaneous
raids across northern Italy, police arrested 15 people
suspected of membership in the operational wing of the Red
Brigades. Police found arms caches during searches and
determined that the cells were planning attacks on leading
political figures, including former Prime Minister
Berlusconi.

The Italian government continued to make use of reinforced
counterterrorism legislation enacted in 2005, which
facilitated the detention of suspects, mandated arrest for
crimes involving terrorism, and expedited procedures for the
deportation of persons who may be involved in terrorist
activities.

The European Court of Human Rights is reviewing the Italian
government's policy of expulsions and deportations without
judicial review. In May, the court blocked the expulsion of
two Moroccan nationals who had been acquitted of terrorism
charges in Italy, citing the risk that their rights would be
violated upon return to Morocco.

Italian authorities have stated publicly that many radical
Islamist groups in Italy are inspired by or connected to
al-Qaida in the Maghreb (AQIM) and other jihadist groups and

ROME 00002504 002 OF 002


use Italy as a logistical and financial base. Kurdistan
Workers' Party (PKK)-affiliated organizations do not have a
major presence in Italy but are thought to have links with
affiliated charitable organizations that maintain Italian
branches.

In August, Parliament passed a law reforming the intelligence
services. The new law, for which implementing regulations
are still being developed, changes the structure of the
services, brings them under the authority of the Prime
Minister's office, and lays out more precise guidelines
governing key issues such as parliamentary oversight,
management of classified information and collaboration with
law enforcement and judicial authorities.

With respect to financial aspects of fighting terrorism,
Italy aggressively identifies and blocks financial resources
destined for suspected terrorist individuals and groups.
Italy is one of the most active countries in the world with
regard to the number of individuals and organizations
submitted for designation to the UN 1267 Sanctions Committee
against al-Qaida and the Taliban (73 individuals and 15
organizations). Since 2001, Italian authorities have frozen
Euro 500,000 (USD 720,000) in assets belonging to individuals
or entities in Italy suspected of financing terror
activities. Italy works closely with the U.S. on money
laundering matters and information sharing. As an active
member of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the
Egmont Group, Italy cooperates actively with other foreign
governments as well.

Italy cooperates closely with the U.S. and other
international partners in the fight against terrorism. As a
non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, Italy takes
active part in Counterterrorism Committee (CTC) and 1267
Committee deliberations and is a strong proponent of
multilateral cooperation in countering terrorism
(particularly the General Assembly's Global Counter-Terrorism
Strategy and the Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task
Force). Italy is also a leading financial contributor to the
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)
Counterterrorism Prevention Branch.

Italy hosted the meeting of the EU's group of six (G6)
Ministers of the Interior with DHS Secretary Chertoff in May
to discuss cooperation strategies in the fight against
radicalization and terrorism. Within the G8, Italy plays an
active role in the Rome-Lyon Group and the Counter Terrorism
Action Group (CTAG),within which Italy leads an initiative
to enhance counterterrorism security measures in airports in
the western Balkans.

Italy is an important partner in the Proliferation Security
Initiative and the Container Security Initiative, and is an
initial partner nation of the Global Initiative to Combat
Nuclear Terrorism. The U.S. and Italy have concluded initial
negotiations on an HSPD-6 data sharing agreement and signed
an Aide Memoire on data sharing on December 4, 2007. In May
2006, the U.S. and Italy signed a new treaty on extradition
and mutual legal assistance, which, when ratified by the U.S.
Senate, will allow for joint investigative teams, easier
asset freezing and faster sharing of financial information.

Italy is a vital participant in NATO's Active Endeavour naval
mission against terrorism in the Mediterranean, and is an
important contributor to international military missions in
Lebanon (where it leads UNIFIL),Afghanistan (where it holds
Regional Command-West and rotating command of the Kabul
Region),and Iraq (where it plays a lead role in the NATO
Training Mission),among others.

Italy plays an important role in international partnership
initiatives with the Broader Middle East such as the EU's
Barcelona Process and the G8's Broader Middle East and North
Africa Initiative (BMENA),in the framework of which Italy
co-sponsors the Democracy Assistance Dialogue.

Italy contributes training personnel to various regional
counterterrorism training centers such as SEARCCT (South East
Asia Regional Centre on Counterterrorism) in Malaysia, the
JCLEC (Joint Centre on Law Enforcement Cooperation) in
Indonesia, and the African Union's Anti-Terrorism Centre in
Algeria.
SPOGLI