Italy dismantles alleged IS recruiting cell, three arrested

Italian authorities on Wednesday dismantled a suspected radical Islamist recruiting cell operating between Italy and the Balkans, local media reported.

A 20-year-old Italian national of Moroccan origin and two Albanians were arrested by anti-terrorism police in the northern city of Turin and in Albania, according to ANSA news agency.

Their names were not immediately revealed.

The Italian national was charged with terrorism sympathizing aggravated by the use of the Internet, for allegedly authoring a 64-page Islamic State (IS) propaganda document in Italian on the web.

The two Albanians, one living in Turin and the other in Albania, were charged with recruiting individuals for terrorism purposes.

Several raids were carried out in Lombardy, Piedmont, and Tuscany regions. The arrests came after a two-year investigation, the head of the counter-terrorism agency UCIGOS, Mario Papa, told local media.

According to prosecutors, the three suspects were in contact with a foreign fighter of dual Italian-Moroccan citizenship named Anas El Abboubi, who is currently believed to be fighting in Syria with IS.

El Abboubi had been arrested by Italian police in June 2013, but was later released, and travelled to Albania a few days before moving to Syria, local media said citing anti-terrorism sources.

Prosecutors deemed the role of the young Italian arrested as quite significant within the activity of the alleged recruiting cell.

The document he would have spread on the Internet was "specifically designed for the Italian public," investigators said.

The paper is entitled "The Islamic State, a reality to communicate." It outlines Islamic State's activities in Syria and Iraq in detail, and describes the so-called "Islamic caliphate" as a state offering the best protection to its citizens yet being ruthless with its enemies.

The document was released on the web in November 2014 and discovered by anti-terrorism police in February. In the meantime, it had been repeatedly relaunched through social media, investigators said.

So far, 25 expulsion orders were issued for "individuals deemed dangerous and close to international terrorism," Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said on Tuesday evening to Rai television.

The minister warned that no country could be considered totally risk-free at the moment, yet restated Italy faced "no sign of a specific threat."

Italy boosted its anti-terrorism legislation in early February, approving toughened measures for both those who join radical armed groups and their recruiters. Sixty-five people have been listed as "foreign fighters" by the Interior Ministry. Endit